Statewide elections where Dems won the most counties but Republicans still win

[old timey villain]

Recent elections, like from the past 10 years

The only one I can think of off the top of my head is (maybe) the South Carolina governor's race in 2010.



SC is kinda interesting. It has a huge black belt area stretching across the state, but its most populous area is the upstate, which is very Republican.

[minionofmidas]

Even Obama came fairly close to doing so in SC - I'm sure there must be more elections in that state where it was true.

[TDAS04]

I'm sorry that this doesn't technically count since the Republican still lost, but the 2003 Louisiana gubernatorial election is quite interesting.  Bobby Jindal lost an overwhelming majority of parishes to Kathleen Blanco, yet he still almost won.  Jindal won overwhelmingly in the New Orleans suburbs while losing most of the David Duke parishes (from 1991) in Northern Louisiana.

[old timey villain]

Connecticut 1994 Governor's race. These types of elections are VERY hard to find since the early 2000s.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Massachusetts 2010 special Senate election?

[traininthedistance]

I believe that Alaska in the 2012 Presidential Election fits.  Romney won 13 boroughs/census areas; Obama won 16.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alaska_Presidential_Election_Results_by_County,_2012.svg

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Recent elections, like from the past 10 years

The only one I can think of off the top of my head is (maybe) the South Carolina governor's race in 2010.



SC is kinda interesting. It has a huge black belt area stretching across the state, but its most populous area is the upstate, which is very Republican.

Indeed.  If we still elected one Senator from each county, the State Senate would likely still be in Democratic control.

[Mr.Phips]

I'm sorry that this doesn't technically count since the Republican still lost, but the 2003 Louisiana gubernatorial election is quite interesting.  Bobby Jindal lost an overwhelming majority of parishes to Kathleen Blanco, yet he still almost won.  Jindal won overwhelmingly in the New Orleans suburbs while losing most of the David Duke parishes (from 1991) in Northern Louisiana.

Yeah, that was one really weird election.  Blanco won pretty much everything, yet significantly underperformed even John Kerry in the New Orleans area. 

[Ban my account ffs!]

I'm sorry that this doesn't technically count since the Republican still lost, but the 2003 Louisiana gubernatorial election is quite interesting.  Bobby Jindal lost an overwhelming majority of parishes to Kathleen Blanco, yet he still almost won.  Jindal won overwhelmingly in the New Orleans suburbs while losing most of the David Duke parishes (from 1991) in Northern Louisiana.

Yeah, that was one really weird election.  Blanco won pretty much everything, yet significantly underperformed even John Kerry in the New Orleans area. 

Perhaps it was a case of mass foresight on the part of people of New Orleans?

[Miles]

GA Senate 1980



The Republican won 51/49.

[Indy Texas]

I believe when Bill Clements was elected governor of Texas in 1978, the Democrat won more counties. (Clements basically won the Houston and Dallas metro areas and parts of West Texas, while the Democrat won east, south and central Texas).

[Benj]

Massachusetts 2010 special Senate election?

Nope, but close. 7 counties each. Brown won Essex, Worcester, Hampden, Norfolk, Plymouth, Bristol and Barnstable; Coakley won Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, Middlesex, Suffolk, Dukes and Nantucket.

If you count the independent cities, I bet this happens in Virginia sometimes.

[memphis]

As far as I can tell, last time it happenned in a Presidential race was 1996 in SC

Other races:
MS 1988 Senate election

AL 1980 Senate election

AL 1990 Senate election

AZ 1986 Governor

AZ 1990 Governor

AZ 1980 Senator

KY 1984 Senator

KY 1998 Senator

[bgwah]

I couldn't find any major examples (Pres, Gov, Sen) of this happening in Washington.

The only two I could find at all were in the 60s/70s and for more minor positions:

Attorney General, 1968
50.22% Slade Gorton (R) - 17 counties
49.78% John McCutcheon (R) - 22 counties



---

And the most extreme example due to a strong R performance in King County:

Insurance Commissioner, 1976
53.25% Richard Marquardt (R) - 17 counties
43.44% Karl Hermann (D) - 22 counties

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Does land area count? Because then the Presidential election last year in Alaska.

[Adam Griffin]

Georgia 1992 Senatorial General Runoff:

Wyche Fowler (84 counties): 49.35%
Paul Coverdale (75 counties) 50.65%

a.k.a. the year Georgia Democrats began to realize their hatred of runoff elections



Not shaded. Wyche Fowler had a large collapse of support among many in the LGBT community in Midtown Atlanta due to comments made prior (I believe it had something to do with Jesse Helms). Many say he ended up losing the election because some LGBT defected in the general election, followed by a collapse of motivation for LGBT turnout in the runoff, which is kinda hilarious when you think about it.

In 1986:

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[Miles]

The shaded version:

[traininthedistance]

As far as I can tell, last time it happenned in a Presidential race was 1996 in SC

As I said upthread, the last time actually was quite recently- Alaska 2012.  Of course, "counties" is a bit of a misnomer in Alaska, but Obama won the majority of county-equivalents- boroughs and unincorporated census areas.

Hard to find maps for Alaska, though.

[Miles]

As I said upthread, the last time actually was quite recently- Alaska 2012.  Of course, "counties" is a bit of a misnomer in Alaska, but Obama won the majority of county-equivalents- boroughs and unincorporated census areas.

Hard to find maps for Alaska, though.

Realisticidealist has us covered.

[minionofmidas]

As far as I can tell, last time it happenned in a Presidential race was 1996 in SC

As I said upthread, the last time actually was quite recently- Alaska 2012.  Of course, "counties" is a bit of a misnomer in Alaska, but Obama won the majority of county-equivalents- boroughs and unincorporated census areas.

Although not if you just count the actual counties boroughs and ignore the Census Bureau's statistical divisions of the Unincorporated Borough.

Also, whoever made that wiki map seems to have used my data and translated them to media color scheme. Goodgood. Very good. Also seems to be making other election maps on wikipedia. Anybody here know who "inqvisitor" is?

[minionofmidas]

Inqvisito'rs series of presidential election maps are my current desktop background.

Huh... mine's a screenshot of a 13-year old Natalie Portman crying and holding a gun to her head in Léon.