Kent County Votes Democratic For Only The Second Time In Over 50 Years
Kent County residents did something this election that has only been done a few times before. They favored the Democratic Candidate over the Republican Candidate in the Presidential Election.
In 1964, Kent County voted overwhelmingly for Lyndon B. Johnson in the Presidential Election. Johnson received 56.42% of the overall vote which is the largest share of votes that the Democratic Party has ever recieved in Kent County.
And since the 1964 Presidential Election, Kent County has only turned blue two other times. Barack Obama barely turned the county blue when he first ran for president in 2008, but wasn't able to do it again in 2012 despite winning the entire state both elections. And now, for the 2020 Presidential Election, Kent County has turned blue again. This time, it is for Barack Obama's Vice President, Joe Biden.
And to go even further back, Kent County has only favored the Democratic Candidate in 4 Presidential Elections in the last 100.
Kent County Presidential Election Results Over Last 100 Years
1920 - Warren G. Harding (R) 40,802 (70.14%) | James M. Cox (D) 14,763 (25.38%)
1924 - Calvin Coolidge (R) 45,207 (76.61%) | John W. Davis (D) 7,982 (13.53%)
1928 - Herbert Hoover (R) 56,573 (75.12%) | Al Smith (D) 18,229 (24.21%)
1932 - Herbert Hoover (R) 42,186 (48.64%) | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) 41,601 (47.97%)
1936 - Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) 44,823 (52.55%) | Alf Landon (R) 36,633 (42.94%)
1940 - Wendell Willkie (R) 53,131 (52.17%) | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) 48,196 (47.33%)
1944 - Thomas E. Dewey (R) 54,163 (54.65%) | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) 43,679 (44.07%)
1948 - Thomas E. Dewey (R) 53,669 (54.33%) | Harry S. Truman (D) 43,205 (43.74%)
1952 - Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) 79,467 (62.02%) | Adlai Stevenson (D) 47,221 (36.85%)
1956 - Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) 94,969 (65.73%) | Adlai Stevenson (D) 48,871 (33.82%)
1960 - Richard Nixon (R) 95,477 (60.70%) | John F. Kennedy (D) 61,313 (38.98%)
1964 - Lyndon B. Johnson (D) 86,860 (56.42%) | Barry Goldwater (R) 66,830 (43.41%)
1968 - Richard Nixon (R) 85,810 (53.68%) | Hubert Humphrey (D) 61,891 (38.72%)
1972 - Richard Nixon (R) 104,041 (59.30%) | George McGovern (D) 67,587 (38.52%)
1976 - Gerald Ford (R) 126,805 (67.22%) | Jimmy Carter (D) 59,000 (31.28%)
1980 - Ronald Reagan (R) 112,604 (54.32%) | Jimmy Carter (D) 72,790 (35.11%)
1984 - Ronald Reagan (R) 137,417 (67.03%) | Walter Mondale (D) 66,238 (32.31%)
1988 - George H. W. Bush (R) 131,910 (63.77%) | Michael Dukakis (D) 73,467 (35.52%)
1992 - George H. W. Bush (R) 115,285 (47.53%) | Bill Clinton (D) 82,305 (33.93%)
1996 - Bob Dole (R) 121,335 (54.32%) | Bill Clinton (D) 85,912 (38.46%)
2000 - George W. Bush (R) 148,602 (59.37%) | Al Gore (D) 95,442 (38.13%)
2004 - George W. Bush (R) 171,201 (58.85%) | John Kerry (D) 116,909 (40.19%)
2008 - Barack Obama (D) 149,909 (49.44%) | John McCain (R) 148,336 (48.92%)
2012 - Mitt Romney (R) 155,925 (53.22%) | Barack Obama (D) 133,408 (45.53%)
2016 - Donald Trump (R) 148,180 (48.08%) | Hillary Clinton (D) 138,683 (45.00%)
2020* - Joe Biden (D) 186,753 (51.9%) | 165,318 (45.9%) Donald Trump (R)
*Final results for the 2020 election are still pending certification
Despite more Kent County residents voting Joe Biden, it appears that Republican Senate candidate John James received more votes than his Democratic opponent Gary Peters. So, the county hasn't turned completely blue and the majority of those Democratic votes come from the city center.