Columbia County, New York

[mileslunn]

How come Columbia County is so heavily Democratic compared to other rural upstate New York counties.  Yes Democrats often win rural upstate ones but they tend to be more swingy, not as solid as Columbia County.

[ProgressiveModerate]

Education; very much an “elitist” kinda place

[Schiff for Senate]

It's not rural, that's the thing. It has over 60,000 people and close to 100 people a square mile  (for comparison, Hamilton County, an actual rural upstate county, has 3.0 people a square mile and like 5,000 people total). It's a suburb of Albany. Hence, it votes much more liberally than actual rural and sparsely-populated counties - it's denser and more urban/suburban.

[lfromnj]

It's not rural, that's the thing. It has over 60,000 people and close to 100 people a square mile  (for comparison, Hamilton County, an actual rural upstate county, has 3.0 people a square mile and like 5,000 people total). It's a suburb of Albany. Hence, it votes much more liberally than actual rural and sparsely-populated counties - it's denser and more urban/suburban.

Most NY rural counties are like that, Hamilton is the exception.

[Schiff for Senate]

It's not rural, that's the thing. It has over 60,000 people and close to 100 people a square mile  (for comparison, Hamilton County, an actual rural upstate county, has 3.0 people a square mile and like 5,000 people total). It's a suburb of Albany. Hence, it votes much more liberally than actual rural and sparsely-populated counties - it's denser and more urban/suburban.

Most NY rural counties are like that, Hamilton is the exception.

Well Columbia's is still unusually high, though you are right inthat Hamilton's is especially low (full disclosure: Hamilton was just the first rural NY county I could think of and so I used it - didn't realize its density was an anomoly rather than typical). And if a county's density is higher than the national average (a category Columbia fits into), by definition it can't really be rural.

[lfromnj]

It's not rural, that's the thing. It has over 60,000 people and close to 100 people a square mile  (for comparison, Hamilton County, an actual rural upstate county, has 3.0 people a square mile and like 5,000 people total). It's a suburb of Albany. Hence, it votes much more liberally than actual rural and sparsely-populated counties - it's denser and more urban/suburban.

Most NY rural counties are like that, Hamilton is the exception.

Well Columbia's is still unusually high, though you are right inthat Hamilton's is especially low (full disclosure: Hamilton was just the first rural NY county I could think of and so I used it - didn't realize its density was an anomoly rather than typical). And if a county's density is higher than the national average (a category Columbia fits into), by definition it can't really be rural.

Many "rural counties" in NY fit this definition. By the way western portion of Columbia county which is closer to Albany is actually relatively moderate with 40k . The portion bordering Vermont which is actually rural with only 20k people is Biden +25. Overall it really does just seem like a mini extension of Vermont. IIRC there are a lot of NYC vacation homes up here and the like.

[Schiff for Senate]

It's not rural, that's the thing. It has over 60,000 people and close to 100 people a square mile  (for comparison, Hamilton County, an actual rural upstate county, has 3.0 people a square mile and like 5,000 people total). It's a suburb of Albany. Hence, it votes much more liberally than actual rural and sparsely-populated counties - it's denser and more urban/suburban.

Most NY rural counties are like that, Hamilton is the exception.

Well Columbia's is still unusually high, though you are right inthat Hamilton's is especially low (full disclosure: Hamilton was just the first rural NY county I could think of and so I used it - didn't realize its density was an anomoly rather than typical). And if a county's density is higher than the national average (a category Columbia fits into), by definition it can't really be rural.

Many "rural counties" in NY fit this definition. By the way western portion of Columbia county which is closer to Albany is actually relatively moderate with 40k . The portion bordering Vermont which is actually rural with only 20k people is Biden +25. Overall it really does just seem like a mini extension of Vermont. IIRC there are a lot of NYC vacation homes up here and the like.

Very interesting. So it's basically left-wing NOT because it's suburban, but rather, because part of it is basically an extension of western MA.

[Sol]

How sad it is that current-day atlas posters do not know of HUDSON, NEW YORK

[Torie]

This is all very interesting. I should really check the place out sometime.

[GregTheGreat657]

A lot of NYC residents keep vacation homes and vote there

[Torie]