Why did the WOW counties trend R between 1988-2012 while other suburbs moved left?

[BrewCityLiberal]

I was looking at the election results and realized that WOW trended R between 1988 and 2012. In 1988, Bush I received 60.8% of the vote in Waukesha County. In 2004 and 2012, Romney and Bush both received 67% of the vote in Waukesha County. Washington and Ozaukee Counties also trended R during those years. Ozaukee County actually shifted leftward 2 points left between 2004-2012, but that was still a very insignificant D trend. Was it white flight or other factors that helped turn WOW into a Republican powerhouse? WOW did not start trending D until Trump became POTUS. Is the recent D trend in WOW indicative of the Trump effect or a long-term trend (i.e. changes in voting behavior that follow national trends of suburbs shifting D across America)?

[TDAS04]

This isn't the only reason, but Paul Ryan probably helped Mitt Romney a little bit there.

[CentristRepublican]

Not all suburbs trended leftward, necessarily. The important change is from 1988 (or whatever election you want as late as 2012) to 2020, and in the 1988-2020 and 2012-2020 spans, the WOW counties trended leftward, I believe. WOW wasn't an anomaly in getting even redder from 1988 to 2012. It would have been had it somehow trended rightward from 1988 to 2020.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Not all suburbs trended leftward, necessarily. The important change is from 1988 (or whatever election you want as late as 2012) to 2020, and in the 1988-2020 and 2012-2020 spans, the WOW counties trended leftward, I believe. WOW wasn't an anomaly in getting even redder from 1988 to 2012. It would have been had it somehow trended rightward from 1988 to 2020.

The suburbs that trended R from 1988-2012 were generally southern/sunbelt burbs though , while most of the Northern Suburbs trended hard D from 1988-2012 so WOW does stand out as an exception here

[BrewCityLiberal]

Not all suburbs trended leftward, necessarily. The important change is from 1988 (or whatever election you want as late as 2012) to 2020, and in the 1988-2020 and 2012-2020 spans, the WOW counties trended leftward, I believe. WOW wasn't an anomaly in getting even redder from 1988 to 2012. It would have been had it somehow trended rightward from 1988 to 2020.

The suburbs that trended R from 1988-2012 were generally southern/sunbelt burbs though , while most of the Northern Suburbs trended hard D from 1988-2012 so WOW does stand out as an exception here

Exactly my point.

[Del Tachi]

Milwaukee had a bit of transformation during the 1990s and 2000s as the old manufacturing employers downsized or moved-out, and the insurance companies and healthcare administrators moved-in.  Probably changed the character of the WOW just a bit.