Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for June 22, 2017
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
June 22, 2017: Next year, 19 Democratic senators will be up for re-election in states with Pivot Counties—counties that voted twice for Barack Obama and then voted for Donald Trump. This includes seven states where more than 10 percent of voters live in Pivot Counties. In four other states, from 5 percent to 10 percent of voters live in Pivot Counties.
In 2016, Pivot County voters cast only 5 percent of the vote nationwide, but they accounted for 51 percent of the Republican popular vote improvement. Because of this outsized impact, Ballotpedia is regularly releasing new Pivot County data to explore national trends leading up to the midterm elections.
Six Democrats are running for re-election in states won by Donald Trump and where at least 5 percent of the voters live in Pivot Counties: Debbie Stabenow in Michigan, Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, and Bill Nelson in Florida.
Additionally, Amy Klobuchar is running for re-election in Minnesota, a state with nearly 10 percent of the voters living in Pivot Counties. While Hillary Clinton won the state in 2016, the margin of victory was less than 2 percentage points.
In Iowa and Michigan, Pivot Counties played a crucial role in Trump’s victory. In Pennsylvania and Ohio, Pivot Counties were significant; however, solidly Republican counties played a bigger role. In Wisconsin, the biggest gains came from counties won by Barack Obama in 2008, Mitt Romney in 2012, and Donald Trump in 2016.
In addition to the 206 Pivot Counties in America, there are 2,226 solidly Republican counties and 449 solidly Democratic counties.
Maine boasts the largest share of voters living in a Pivot County—47 percent. These counties enabled Trump to win an Electoral College vote from northern Maine.
| Name of Senator | Number of Pivot Counties | Total Number of Counties in State | Percent of Voters Living in Pivot Counties | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maine | Angus King* | 8 | 16 | 47.08% |
| New York | Kirsten Gillibrand | 18 | 62 | 19.37% |
| Michigan | Debbie Stabenow | 12 | 83 | 18.36% |
| Delaware | Tom Carper | 1 | 3 | 18.26% |
| Wisconsin | Tammy Baldwin | 23 | 72 | 17.35% |
| Rhode Island | Sheldon Whitehouse | 1 | 5 | 15.69% |
| Ohio | Sherrod Brown | 9 | 88 | 13.95% |
| Minnesota | Amy Klobuchar | 19 | 87 | 9.97% |
| Indiana | Joe Donnelly | 5 | 92 | 7.98% |
| Pennsylvania | Bob Casey | 3 | 67 | 7.05% |
| Florida | Bill Nelson | 4 | 67 | 6.71% |
| Washington | Maria Cantwell | 5 | 39 | 4.74% |
| New Mexico | Martin Heinrich | 3 | 33 | 4.54% |
| New Jersey | Bob Menendez | 2 | 21 | 4.00% |
| Virginia | Tim Kaine | 5 | 133 | 3.95% |
| Montana | Jon Tester | 3 | 56 | 3.37% |
| Connecticut | Chris Murphy | 1 | 8 | 3.28% |
| North Dakota | Heidi Heitkamp | 4 | 53 | 2.56% |
| Vermont | Bernie Sanders* | 1 | 14 | 0.99% |
| *Independents Who Caucus With Democrats Sources: Ballotpedia, Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential elections | ||||
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- June 21, 2017 51 million Netflix subscribers—surpasses cable for first time
- June 20, 2017 50 million dollars plus spent on special election Georgia 6; all-time record
- June 19, 2017 52 percent of conservatives expect economy to improve; 14 percent of liberals agree
- June 16, 2017 6 billion dollars worth of legal marijuana sales in 2016, $25 billion of illegal sales
- June 15, 2017 17.6 billion dollars of person-to-person payments handled by Venmo in 2016
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Click here to check out the latest update.
The Number of the Day is broadcast on local stations across the country. An archive of these broadcasts can be found here.
Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
Ballotpedia is the nonprofit, nonpartisan Encyclopedia of American Politics.
See also
June 23
June 23, 2017: Thirteen U.S. states impose a sales tax on food, ranging from a low of 1 percent in Illinois to a high of 6.5 percent in Kansas. Seven states have no sales tax whatsoever, while 30 collect sales taxes on some items but not food.
In three states without a statewide sales tax on food, food sales are subject to local sales taxes.
Utah and Virginia both have a statewide sales tax on food, a portion of which is levied by local governments. The map below tells you the food sales tax status of each state.
The states without any statewide sales tax are Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. Below is a summary of states that do levy a sales tax on food or allow their local governments to do so.
| Sales tax rates, 2017 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Is food taxable? | Rate if food is taxable | Notes |
| Alabama | Taxable | 4% | |
| Arkansas | Taxable | 1.5% | Food sales are subject to local sales taxes. |
| Georgia | No state sales tax | N/A | Food sales are subject to local sales taxes. |
| Hawaii | Taxable | 4% | |
| Idaho | Taxable | 6% | |
| Illinois | Taxable | 1% | |
| Kansas | Taxable | 6.5% | |
| Louisiana | Exempt | N/A | Food sales are subject to local sales taxes. |
| Mississippi | Taxable | 7% | |
| Missouri | Taxable | 1.225% | |
| North Carolina | Exempt | N/A | Food sales are subject to local sales taxes. |
| Oklahoma | Taxable | 4.5% | |
| South Dakota | Taxable | 4.5% | |
| Tennessee | Taxable | 5% | Food sales are subject to local sales taxes. |
| Utah | Taxable | 3% | This includes a statewide 1.25% tax levied by local governments. |
| Virginia | Taxable | 2.5% | This includes a statewide 1% tax levied by local governments. |
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- June 21, 2017 51 million Netflix subscribers—surpasses cable for first time
- June 20, 2017 50 million dollars plus spent on special election Georgia 6; all-time record
- June 19, 2017 52 percent of conservatives expect economy to improve; 14 percent of liberals agree
- June 16, 2017 6 billion dollars worth of legal marijuana sales in 2016, $25 billion of illegal sales
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Bookmark this page to check out the latest update.
The Number of the Day is broadcast on local stations across the country. An archive of these broadcasts can be found here. Scott's most recent book, The Sun is Still Rising: Politics Has Failed But America Will Not, was published in 2018 by the Sutherland Institute.
Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
Ballotpedia is the nonprofit, nonpartisan Encyclopedia of American Politics.
See also
- Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day
- Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day Archive
- Sales tax exemptions for food
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
