Driving through Essex and Warren counties, NY

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

And it's all rural very small village land for the most part, Besides Lake George.
These areas would at first strike me as conservative areas. However, the are is beautiful with incredible mountains and nature scenery everywhere. Are they changing politically thanks to environmentally conscious people moving into these areas that love the area, like Vermont? I notice Essex is going harder and harder to the left in recent years.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

Anybody?

[LLR]

Megacoattails from Vermont, of course.

EDIT: you'd have better luck on the political geography/demographics board

[Redban]

You surmise that these counties should be Republican solely because they are rural.

The answer to your question is, therefore, quite simple -- not all rural areas are conservative; not all urban areas are liberal. In the Northeast, there are actually plenty rural areas that vote Democrat in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, etc.

As for your last sentence, Essex has been trending left likely because the nation, as a whole, has been trending left. The GOP has had some good years , like 2010, but their gains have not occurred in the Northeast.