According to the Census website, these are the ten counties that experienced the most growth in South Carolina last year:
1. Lancaster (Charlotte, NC MSA)
2. Horry (Myrtle Beach MSA)
3. Berkeley (Charleston MSA)
4. York (Charlotte, NC MSA)
5. Jasper (Hilton Head MSA)
6. Beaufort (Hilton Head MSA)
7. Charleston (Charleston city and suburbs)
8. Greenville (Greenville city and suburbs)
9. Lexington (Columbia MSA)
10. Spartanburg (Greenville MSA)
8 of those 10 counties went for Trump, including the top 4:
1. Lancaster: 60.9% Trump, 35.4% Clinton
2. Horry: 67.3% Trump, Clinton 29.5%
3. Berkeley: 56.0% Trump, 38.6% Clinton
4. York: 58.4% Trump, 36.4% Clinton
5. Jasper: 54.8% Clinton, 42.9% Trump
6. Beaufort: 54.9% Trump, 40.6% Clinton
7. Charleston: 50.6% Clinton, 42.8% Trump
8. Greenville: 59.4% Trump, 34.7% Clinton
9. Lexington: 65.6% Trump, 28.8% Clinton
10. Spartanburg: 63.0% Trump, 33.0% Clinton
Clinton was able to get out of the 30s in just THREE of the ten fastest growing counties in the state. Additionally, only TWO of the fifteen counties she carried in the state made this list. Yet somehow I imagine this won't turn into a conversation about how SC might be slipping even further away from the Democrats?? That destinction can only be given to states like West Virginia or Kentucky, as they fit the narrative better of how some partisans on BOTH sides are choosing to frame our political reality in the age of Trump. I apologize if I worded my first post poorly and even used some hyperbole, but as Timmy said in his other post, it's just frustrating to see such narrow-minded, black-and-white and - frankly - Wulfric-esque analysis of our political coalitions and trends on a site that is supposed to be dedicated to the complexities of such things.
Yes, and five of the counties you listed trended Democratic in 2016. This doesn't seem like a lot, but when you consider the fact that only 8 out of 46 counties in SC trended Democratic in 2016 it becomes a much more interesting tidbit (and I doubt it's a coincidence). That being said, I made it clear in my previous post that I believe SC will remain solidly Republican for a long time (for some of the reasons you mentioned above), but so will MO (and I bet the latter will remain Republican for a longer time). Obviously MO is more likely to elect a Democratic Senator or statewide official than SC right now, but is it really more likely to vote Democratic in a presidential race? Color me skeptical. Like I said before, I could see SC trending Democratic if demographics become more favorable to Democrats there (and not really because of Romney/Clinton voters anyway), but I don't see a similar situation developing in MO. Also keep in mind that while there's no Democratic trend in SC right now, there wasn't one in TX in 2012 either.
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