Rural areas near college towns

[NOVA Green]

Not every college town is Democratic. It's perfectly possible that in some areas they are actually less Dem than their surroundings, albeit this would in any case be a small subsection of college towns as a whole.

Now that even Lynchburg, VA has gone D, I’m hard-pressed to think of even a single college town that’s not Democratic, let alone one less Democratic than the surrounding area.

Mormon college towns? Bible Belt white evangelical universities?

Well Lynchburg, home to Liberty University, was exactly the latter. As for Mormon colleges, well perhaps Provo, UT (home of BYU) is still Republican. Although it actually seems to have voted for McMullin in 2016.

IIRC: Provo narrowly voted Trump over McMullin in 2016:

[Sol]

Liberty still clearly makes Lynchburg more Republican rather than less--the city isn't just Liberty's sphere of influence, and there's a decently large Black community.

[Gracile]

Not every college town is Democratic. It's perfectly possible that in some areas they are actually less Dem than their surroundings, albeit this would in any case be a small subsection of college towns as a whole.

Now that even Lynchburg, VA has gone D, I’m hard-pressed to think of even a single college town that’s not Democratic, let alone one less Democratic than the surrounding area.

It should be noted that the precinct Liberty University is located within is still overwhelmingly Republican, so the university area is less Democratic than the surrounding areas of Lynchburg.

[Fusternino]

Looking into College Station, TX right now. When I was there in 2016 there was about 30-35 point gap between Presidential and House races.

[Mr. Smith]

Not every college town is Democratic. It's perfectly possible that in some areas they are actually less Dem than their surroundings, albeit this would in any case be a small subsection of college towns as a whole.

Now that even Lynchburg, VA has gone D, I’m hard-pressed to think of even a single college town that’s not Democratic, let alone one less Democratic than the surrounding area.

Mormon college towns? Bible Belt white evangelical universities?

Well Lynchburg, home to Liberty University, was exactly the latter. As for Mormon colleges, well perhaps Provo, UT (home of BYU) is still Republican. Although it actually seems to have voted for McMullin in 2016.

Madison Co., ID says hi. Trump gained by 20 points.

Know what county is next door...Teton, one of three D counties in the whole state.

[HAnnA MArin County]

Jackson County, IL, Carbondale is a big college town home to Southern Illinois University. The township south of Carbondale (Makanda), I know that’s where a lot of the college professors live, which probably explains the swing to Hillary there in 2016. (Carbondale, I think, would’ve probably swung Democratic in 2016 had it not been for the butthurt BernieBros there who gave Jill Stein her best performance there statewide.) As the rest of Jackson County outside of Carbondale is reliably red/Atlas blue. Murphysboro has a decently sized Black population so I would imagine the city itself shouldn’t be as red/Atlas blue as the more rural parts of the county.

[Sol]

Madison is particularly striking. Not only do the rural parts of Dane vote Democratic, but so do the neighbouring rural counties of Green, Iowa, and, narrowly this year, Sauk. I very much doubt that these counties would vote Dem without the influence of UW and Madison, but you’re talking about a pretty wide geographic radius, that I can’t imagine too many university-associated people settling that far out (although there are doubtless some). Perhaps a more generally culturally liberal atmosphere/Vermont-style hippies, nonetheless originally attracted by Madison?

Madison is also much larger than the typical college town--it's really a heavily college-influenced city. The properly suburban areas are mostly in Dane, but the adjacent rural counties like Green or Iowa are heavily politically influenced by Madison in part because it's significantly bigger than Iowa City.

[Figueira]

Not every college town is Democratic. It's perfectly possible that in some areas they are actually less Dem than their surroundings, albeit this would in any case be a small subsection of college towns as a whole.

Now that even Lynchburg, VA has gone D, I’m hard-pressed to think of even a single college town that’s not Democratic, let alone one less Democratic than the surrounding area.

It should be noted that the precinct Liberty University is located within is still overwhelmingly Republican, so the university area is less Democratic than the surrounding areas of Lynchburg.

Totally different situation, but this can happen with liberal universities too. The precincts that contain parts of UMass are slightly less Democratic than the other precincts in Amherst.