Michigan outside Wayne County has trended significantly Democratic since 1960

[OSR stands with Israel]

The percentages just reflect share of two party vote

1960:
Nixon: 1,225,943(57.29%)
Kennedy: 913,942(42.71%)

2020:
Trump: 2,385,299(51.94%)
Biden: 2,206,870(48.06%)


This is even true in 2016 though not as much


2016:

Trump: 2,050,550(53.96%)
Hillary: 1,749,395(46.04%)

[S019]

This makes sense when you consider that Detroit has been bleeding population (and thus Democratic votes) for decades now, which makes me think long term Michigan will probably become a red leaning state.

[OSR stands with Israel]

This makes sense when you consider that Detroit has been bleeding population (and thus Democratic votes) for decades now, which makes me think long term Michigan will probably become a red leaning state.

But why has the rest of Michigan swung so much D since 1960 given that Macomb has swung massively R since then and Oakland swung D I think by only a similar amount so they should cancel each other out .


This means that Rural MI seems to have swung D

[lfromnj]

This makes sense when you consider that Detroit has been bleeding population (and thus Democratic votes) for decades now, which makes me think long term Michigan will probably become a red leaning state.

But why has the rest of Michigan swung so much D since 1960 given that Macomb has swung massively R since then and Oakland swung D I think by only a similar amount so they should cancel each other out .


This means that Rural MI seems to have swung D

Most of rural Michigan was traditional Yankee Rurals so yeah it did. The exception was the Upper Peninsula.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

The main reason for this is that Washtenaw, Ingham and Kalamazoo counties (all definitely urban, all college counties) voted massively more Democratic in 2020 than in 1960 and, while the gap was not as gigantic as the first tier, Kent County (also definitely urban) in addition to some suburban counties around the ones I have mentioned (Ottawa, Eaton, Clinton for example) also voted much more Democratic in 2020 than in 1960
Heck, even other urban counties but with a more industrial history which might lead to think they have trended Republican over the long term actually voted more Democratic in 2020 than in 1960, although by reduced amounts - Genesee, Saginaw.

By the way, you could have just looked at a map.

[Chips]

Interesting.

[DINGO Joe]

I think a much more rigorous definition of "rural" wouldn't find much if any swing to the D, even with the counties being heavily R in 1960 (aside from the UP).  As noted by Battista much of the huge swing comes from the more educated cities and suburbs that run in a belt from outside Wayne all the way to Lake Michigan.  Some rural counties along Lake Michigan have swung D as they've become more recreational and cater to the educated and wealthy, while the UP and the rest of rural Michigan have swung, with exceptions, R. 

I mean Ingham and Washtenaw both voted more than 60% for Nixon and voted 65 and 72 for Biden.