Most interesting counties in your state politically?

[Sol]

Not most politically important, but rather interesting.

1. Robeson -- for obvious reasons which have been heavily discussed here.
2. Jackson -- kind of a politically heterogenous place. Democrats have an above-average vote due to Western, but it usually votes Republican, last flipping in 2008. There's a large Cherokee community in the county's section of the Qualla Boundary, though Democrats don't reliably win this area, unlike the section in Swain County. The NC Republicans have been deregulating gambling, which could have an impact here.
3. Alamance -- possibly the most polarized county in the country. Has an extremely hard right Arpaio-esque sheriff and a very active white supremacist movement; on the other hand, the area has a large Black community in Burlington and Graham, increasing urbanization along I-40, and a slowly growing amount of spillover from Orange County. The area made news for the police pepper-spraying people marching to the polls in 2020 and for the long battle over Graham's confederate monument. One of the epicenters of racist far-right backlash politics in the state, but may vote Democratic in like 10 years.
4. Wake -- The biggest county in the state, and how it swings in the future could strongly impact the future of NC politics. Democrats have been growing like gangbusters here, winning precincts in places like Fuquay-Varina in 2020 (!). That would be equivalent to Democrats being competitive in Cherokee County in GA. If Democrats fully lock down the county it would be a BFD for them.
5. Pasquotank -- The small, majority Black city of Elizabeth City plus its rural white R surrounds. This corner of NC is one of the more remote areas, and is maybe the only large part of the state which is more closely aligned to another state (people here shop in Hampton Roads). It's also home to an important HBCU, ECSU, whose students have had to fight to protect their voting rights. Swing county.

[ottermax]

California is a bounty of interesting counties - mostly because we have so many people, so when you dig deeper into a seemingly simple county like San Bernardino you realize its quite complex.

Still... some counties that defy trends or have interesting dynamics that are underdiscussed...

1. Lake County - defies the demographics with their voting patterns, overwhelmingly white, mostly working class, yet has stayed with the Democrats
2. Stanislaus County - I know more than most people should about this county yet it baffles me. It has had distinctive swings to the right in recent years and it isn't all that clear what is going on.
3. Inyo County - just swinging dramatically to the left but doesn't really have a massive tourism presence compared to Mono County
4. Imperial County - a bit of a forgotten county that has been a loyally Democratic county but extremely socially conservative... very curious to see how it changes in the coming decade.

[politicallefty]

1. Lake County - defies the demographics with their voting patterns, overwhelmingly white, mostly working class, yet has stayed with the Democrats

I'm not sure how long it will hold up though. The trends have not been good for the Democratic Party. Newsom lost it last year, the first time a Democrat has won the governor's mansion without it since 1974 (and that was a time when Jerry Brown was winning Shasta and Lassen Counties and losing in Marin and Contra Costa).

3. Inyo County - just swinging dramatically to the left but doesn't really have a massive tourism presence compared to Mono County

I can't really explain how Biden was the first Democrat to win the county in a presidential election since 1964. Newsom didn't get that close (though he did keep it within 10%), but Padilla kept it around a 5% loss.

[VPH]

For Pennsylvania:
1. Bucks County because so many trends are happening there simultaneously. Upper Bucks is traditionally conservative and more exurban/rural but slowly trending towards Democrats, Middle Bucks is suburban and moving Democratic pretty quickly, and Lower Bucks is blue-collar traditional Democratic and shifting rightward.
2. Berks County is larger than a lot of people realize but has pretty low turnout. There's a significant Latino population in Reading proper and a good number of WWC voters elsewhere so the trends are neat to follow. Occasionally, it'll flip blue for the right candidate. If you're a Democrat winning Berks, you're doing quite well statewide.
3. Luzerne County because it's swung to the GOP so remarkably fast since the mid-2010s, with just about the whole county government flipping recently. Nonetheless, there are some Democrats who can win here, like Josh Shapiro.

For my home state of Kansas:
1. Ellis County because of its long Democratic history stemming from deep German Catholic roots. On a Presidential level, Ellis hasn't been Democratic since 1992, but it elected a Democratic State Rep. in Eber Phelps until just a few years ago. Laura Kelly kept the margins down here too.
2. Crawford County, another ancestrally Democratic county (this one because of mining plus labor heritage and ethnic mix stemming from that) but even more intriguing because it was once of the most Socialist counties in the country, won by Eugene Debs in 1912. Like Ellis, Democrats were shockingly able to hold onto a small town seat here in Frontenac with Adam Lusker representing the more rural seat until recently and another Democrat in Pittsburg too.
3. Harvey County, not because of the whole county but specifically because of the rural and smaller city (North Newton) Mennonite areas where Democrats pull well above their weight. Central Kansas Mennonites have had a unique political history, from supporting pro-German candidates in the 1930s to being a hub for anti-Vietnam War protests in the 1960s and 1970s.
4. Lyon County, home to Emporia which is a diversifying small city with a university. Usually not in play in Presidential races but now bluer than Sedgwick County at that level. Lyon is pretty moderate--former Lt. Governor Jim Barnett (who ran a centrist bid for Governor in 2018) hails from there, and its State Rep. is the center-right Mark Schreiber. It flips to Democrats against right-wing figures like Brownback or Kris Kobach.
5. Johnson County is interesting for the exact opposite reasons that Luzerne County PA is. It has skyrocketed towards Democrats. Just a decade ago, the best Democratic candidates failed to win it. Now, even the worst statewide Democratic candidates either win it or come close.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

In SC I’d say Charleston, poor urban blacks, beach front millionaire liberals, middle class mix race suburbs, white conservative beach towns, rural multiracial small towns and a growing Hispanic population.

Another one that doesn’t seem interesting on the surface is Myrtle Beach. It’s mostly a Republican retiree community, but over the waterway is rural Alabama blood red precincts that prevent the county from ever budging left. 

[Progressive Pessimist]

All the counties that are shifting differently like Atlantic, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Monmouth, and Morris.

Though Somerset fascinates me the most since it seemed to be a major canary in the coal mine for the GOP's suburban slide. The once historically red county votes to the left of the state now!

[thebeloitmoderate]

For Wisconsin

1. Waukesha County- Traditional deep red Suburban GOP County that is not as diverse or college educated as other suburban counties in the Midwest, Trump won it in 2016/20 in smaller margins, however the local GOP is engaged in culture war issues that is popular.
2/3. Kenosha and Racine Counties- Majority Minority cities (Kenosha, and Racine), 2 universities (UW Parkside/Carthage) that do not see the same turnout or activism scene as UW Madison/Beloit College, more whiter suburban/exurban and rural areas, Both went to Democrats by comfortable margins until 2016, Kenosha/Racine counties got the GOP shift in 2020 due to the unrest.

[TML]

Putnam County - despite about 40% of this county’s adult population having higher education, and despite it being surrounded almost entirely by D-leaning counties, this county somehow still votes R in most elections.

[Torie]

Kings County, NY (Brooklyn), going away. The sharp diversity politically and demographically of its various neighborhoods has to be one of the most extreme in the US, as well as the variety. Everything is there - every demographic group that adorns the fruited plain has representation in Brooklyn.

[Arizona Iced Tea]

Yuma was a solidly Republican county that Hillary almost flipped, but has trended slightly R recently. Masters won it by 6% but Lake carried it by 13.

[Tekken_Guy]

For Wisconsin

1. Waukesha County- Traditional deep red Suburban GOP County that is not as diverse or college educated as other suburban counties in the Midwest, Trump won it in 2016/20 in smaller margins, however the local GOP is engaged in culture war issues that is popular.
2/3. Kenosha and Racine Counties- Majority Minority cities (Kenosha, and Racine), 2 universities (UW Parkside/Carthage) that do not see the same turnout or activism scene as UW Madison/Beloit College, more whiter suburban/exurban and rural areas, Both went to Democrats by comfortable margins until 2016, Kenosha/Racine counties got the GOP shift in 2020 due to the unrest.

Kenosha swung to Trump, but Racine swung to Biden.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Williamson County.  Because I live there (just kidding).  No, actually, because it's such an outlier in so many statistical categories.  It's over 60% college educated and still votes Republican by 2:1 margins in most elections.  It's the wealthiest county in the whole South (and, adjusted for cost of living, the whole United States), but that is due to tons "5%" and "1%" people but not a lot of "0.1%" people.

It often shows up on maps.  A map someone posted a few years back showed Williamson County with the highest rate of church attendance outside of Utah.  It often disagrees with the statewide vote in GOP primaries (typically for the "movement conservative" instead of either an establishment or MAGA type).  In some referendums, it still stands out to this day as uniquely right-wing (such as the 2022 right to work referendum).

The Southern Nashville suburbs also have become a bit of an evangelical center- for both families and young adults.  There's a lot of self-selection in who moves to Nashville versus Franklin or Spring Hill.

[It’s so Joever]

In terms of demography it’s tough as Colorado is so white but I’d say Pueblo for standing out as a more rust belt type county in a state that is the antithesis of the rust belt.

In terms of voting, probably either Alamosa for being Clinton/Trump (the valley Hispanics in Colorado did swing a bit) or Chaffee for being the only McCain-Obama-Trump-Clinton county

[jamestroll]

In terms of demography it’s tough as Colorado is so white but I’d say Pueblo for standing out as a more rust belt type county in a state that is the antithesis of the rust belt.

In terms of voting, probably either Alamosa for being Clinton/Trump (the valley Hispanics in Colorado did swing a bit) or Chaffee for being the only McCain-Obama-Trump-Clinton county

Here are interesting ones for me:

Pueblo- I do agree that it is very much a RUST belt type County. Do the 2022 results mean it will stay Democratic? My belief: More of a Democratic leaning swing county. Close margins, but Democrats will win more often than NOT.

Mesa- Will be Republican obviously. Will it continue a left ward trend? This can make or break the Democrat's hope of sustaining a Democratic victory for more than ONE term.

Garfield- in 2020, the county voted for BIDEN after generally consistently voting Republican after 1992. The 2022 results showed it marched LEFT fast. Will this hold in 2024? Considering the people I see ROAMING around it, I'd say yes.

A lot of those southern counties in Colorado voting DEM in 2022 may have been a mirage based on a Polis landslide STATEWIDE, and the fact that MIDTERM elections tend to have some relics of the PAST in voting.

[CookieDamage]

NJ: I'd say Cumberland. It's kinda rural but has a few towns like Vineland and Bridgeton, is majority-minority and much more diverse than other counties in South Jersey, is rather poor (by median household income) and used to be one of the most Democratic counties in South Jersey. It's been trending right the past few cycles but I can see it remaining Democratic for a time while Atlantic and Gloucester counties vote and stay red.

[Mr. Smith]

Best I can say is either Jefferson or Kenedy.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Unfortunately Trump kind of killed all the interesting patterns. One that I suppose remains is Carver, which used to be a true Titanium R place and hasn't voted D for President since 1932, but now is heavily divided between its D-leaning eastern suburbs and the still uber-R rural German parts in the west. It's actually notable in that Biden carried 3/5 of its county commission seats, making it the only county Biden "flipped" 2016-2020 on this metric, even if it's kind of meaningless for how the results break down because they're nonpartisan elections.

Stearns is kind of interesting too, I had a discussion with Xahar a few months back about it, and the polarization between St. Cloud and the rest of it.

Rice is also interesting due to its polarization, but it was arguably more interesting pre-Trump, now it's Northfield vs. everywhere else, while previously it at least also had Faribault in with Northfield. What is kind of interesting though is how Northfield's "suburbs" vote, they seem to be pretty swingy areas despite being really just rural areas on the outskirts of Northfield (and in the event of Dundas, basically a stretch of strip malls and a few residential areas that sits near Northfield.)

[BigZuck08]

Northampton, Erie: The ultimate bellwether counties. Whomever these two counties vote for, is ultimately who wins the state. In Northampton, the rural north and south tend to vote conservative, whereas the urban center (Bethlehem, Easton) tend to vote liberal. In Erie, Erie proper tends to vote liberal, while the rest of the county tends to vote conservative.

Bucks: Another swing county but leans a bit more to the Democrats with the exception of Republican Brian Fitzpatrick representing it in Congress. The northern part of the county tends to vote conservative, the middle part of the county is the bellwether part of the county, while the southern part of the county tends to vote liberal.

Luzerne: A former swing county that swung to the right, with the exception of Democratic Josh Shapiro's narrow win in the county in 2022, mostly due to the extremism of the then-Republican nominee Doug Mastriano. Wilkes-Barre and it's surrounding suburbs tend to vote liberal, while the rest of the county tends to vote conservative.

Lancaster: A conservative county that's been trending left-ward. Doug Mastriano only narrowly won the county in 2022, while Oz won it by a comfortable margin. Lancaster proper and its surrounding suburbs tend to vote liberal, while the rest of the county tends to vote conservative.

[Alben Barkley]

Do I even need to say the obvious one?

[Sol]

Do I even need to say the obvious one?

Hardin?

Yes, I know what he's talking about, but it isn't really very interesting anymore.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

Somerset

[OBD]

I'd probably flag two counties as interesting.

As the state at large has generally trended to the left, Columbia County has bucked that trend aggressively, a historically Democratic county shifting hard right during the Trump years. While there's many examples of this county archetype, Columbia is arguably the only one in Oregon (nearby Tillamook County has also moved to the right, though not as severely). While much of the region is stagnant or moving left, Republicans have gained significantly in Columbia (and neighboring Cowlitz), creating a curious little island of Trumpism in the blue Cascadian sea.

On a more granular level, Jackson County is probably the most fascinating county in Oregon. The north of the county is rock-ribbed Republican, while the south of the county (anchored by Ashland) is as Democratic as the center of Portland. Mid-size Medford - one of few sizable towns between Eugene and Sacramento - is swingy, and while Democrats have gained here they have not managed to flip the county (with Medford and the north outweighing Ashland significantly in population). Jackson County is arguably the most polarized county in the state (outside of Jefferson County, where the Warm Springs reservation is starkly divided politically from the remainder of the county), and is fairly sizable (over 200k people) as well.

[TDAS04]

I work in a Robert La Follette/Alf Landon county. It’s voted Republican in every presidential election except 1924, 1932, and 1964. (1912 doesn’t count. TR was the only Republican on the ballot here).

I’m talking about, of course, Lincoln County, which is growing fast due to the rapid southward expansion of Sioux Falls. Traditionally rural, many of Sioux Falls’s southern suburbs still feel like very small towns, but are rapidly growing.

Lincoln County isn’t turning blue anytime soon, but 2016 was the first time in probably several decades that it voted to the left of South Dakota as a whole.

[Vice President Christian Man]

My state is relatively boring but Suffolk County where Boston is voted Dem long before any other country in the state did, Dukes County in the SE corner abruptly became Dem in the 1970's after being a very Rep county and Bristol County appears to be racing towards the GOP despite nearby counties becoming more Dem although it could be more influenced by neighboring RI and more practicing Catholic/WWC.