How did HRC lose St. Lucie county, Florida?

[AGA]

It hadn't gone Republican since 1992. Both Gillum and Nelson won it in 2018 as well.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

There is a big gay community there, which makes it even weirder that Hillary lost it.

[TDAS04]

There is a big gay community there, which makes it even weirder that Hillary lost it.

Same with Monroe County (though Gillum also lost it, so it's apparently trending R).

[VPH]

Seems to be an area with a heavier WWC population than other parts of SE Florida. Looking at stats:
-Lower college-educated % than the state average.
-Relatively higher % of the population working in repair, healthcare support, construction, facilities, material moving
-59.3% White, which is higher than the state average too
-Population skews older

That might explain the GOP trend and flip from Obama to Trump.

[DINGO Joe]

It does have a higher than Fl avg of black voters and Hillary did struggle with getting that vote out in 2016

[538Electoral]

It does have a higher than Fl avg of black voters and Hillary did struggle with getting that vote out in 2016

[Del Tachi]

The same thing that explains Florida's rightward trend in general:  G.I./Silent olds being replaced by Boomer olds

[El Betico]

It seems to me that this county has a percentage of over 65 people higher than Florida as a whole, in a State that has itself one of the highest of the nation, if not the single highest one. Plus, it is a clearly lean Dem county since 1996, but not a rock-hard one, only Obama 2008 won it by double digits in presidential elections, and Gillum-Nelson 2018 victories were by a 3-something points, slightly down even in respect to John Kerry margin in 2004...maybe now is more of a swing county that tilts Dem.

[MARGINS6729]

It's filled with working class voters- it's a tossup to lean D county right now.

[lfromnj]

It does have a higher than Fl avg of black voters and Hillary did struggle with getting that vote out in 2016

No she didn't, She did better with Kerry or Gore, I don't know why people blame the 2016 election on Hillary's failure to get black voters when its more the utter apathy WWC Americans had for her and now the Democrat party at large.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

St. Lucie County went for Gillum in 2018.  It's Constitutional Officers are all Democrats.  The only Republican on the Commission, Commissioner Frannie Hutchinson, is a civic figure who is not really viewed as a partisan figure and gets support from Democrats in the way a Republican might in a non-partisan election.

The housing recovery that occurred from 2012 onward brought back some new residents to Port St. Lucie (a fast-growing area) that probably made the county slightly more Republican.  St. Lucie is a place with a number of Obama-Trump voters.  (The rest of the Treasure Coast is pretty much one-party Republican.)  It's a place where the white voter is less likely to have a college degree, but quite likely to be from the Northeast (at least in Port St. Lucie). 

St. Lucie County leans Biden right now, and will likely carry for Biden, albeit not by much.

[Calthrina950]

St. Lucie County went for Gillum in 2018.  It's Constitutional Officers are all Democrats.  The only Republican on the Commission, Commissioner Frannie Hutchinson, is a civic figure who is not really viewed as a partisan figure and gets support from Democrats in the way a Republican might in a non-partisan election.

The housing recovery that occurred from 2012 onward brought back some new residents to Port St. Lucie (a fast-growing area) that probably made the county slightly more Republican.  St. Lucie is a place with a number of Obama-Trump voters.  (The rest of the Treasure Coast is pretty much one-party Republican.)  It's a place where the white voter is less likely to have a college degree, but quite likely to be from the Northeast (at least in Port St. Lucie). 

St. Lucie County leans Biden right now, and will likely carry for Biden, albeit not by much.

Biden ended up losing St. Lucie County by nearly 2%, so it has clearly trended to the right, and Clinton's loss there was not a fluke. The factors identified earlier in the county's vote for Trump back in 2016-the lower levels of college attainment, the whiter population, and the substantial contingent of older voters, help to explain why it stuck with Trump this year. Trump actually improved here compared to 2016, carrying it with a majority, whereas he won a plurality against Clinton.