After a bitter and contentious election in Texas, I just wanted to create a light-hearted map in an attempt to bury the hatchet a little bit. (At least for a year or two!)
What if the 2016 Presidential Election Was Determined by Each State’s Most or Least Densely Populated County?
Most Historically Popular / Unpopular Presidential Candidate by State, 1972-2016
For these maps, I found the percentage of each state’s total population voting for each candidate in all presidential elections from 1972 to 2016. The candidate who had the highest percentage (in any election year) is the “winner.”
I realize that it would be more ideal to use the actual eligible voting population, rather than the total population, but I have been unable to find that data further back than 2000. So, for the sake of uniformity, I have gone with total population. I do not believe that this greatly affects the results, at least not in the 1972-2016 time frame.
Data sources: Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (historical state population data)
Hypothetical U.S. Presidential Candidate Face-Offs
U.S. Voting Blocs
Where Do “Red America” and “Blue America” Live? Voter Density in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election
Largest Racial/Ethnic Group by County, Relative to Entire United States Population
This map is a little tricky to explain succinctly, so bear with me. What is being shown is the racial/ethnic group in each county that is most disproportionate to the makeup of the United States.
For example, my home of Travis County, Texas, is 50% White, 34% Hispanic, 8% Black, 6% Asian-Pacific Islander and 0% Native American. The United States as a whole is 62% White, 17% Hispanic, 12% Black, 5% Asian-Pacific Islander and 1% Native American. While Travis County is less White, Black and Native American than the US as a whole, it has a higher share of Hispanic and Asian-Pacific Islander residents.
The share of the population which is Hispanic is 2.8x that of the US, and the Asian-Pacific Islander population is 1.2x. Therefore, Travis County is shown on this map as Hispanic, even though Whites constitute the largest racial/ethnic group within the county.
United States of Apathy
Source for total number of eligible voters: United States Census Bureau American Community Survey
Source for county-level election results (except Alaska): Tony McGovern
Source for estimated Alaska borough-level election results: RRH Elections