Not Just White Soccer Moms: Voting in Suburbia in the 2016 and 2020 Elections
Conventional narratives of the 2020 presidential election typically overlook the growing importance of voters of color in suburbia, especially in battleground states such as Georgia and Virginia. Using novel precinct-level voting data for twenty-two states for the 2016 and 2020 presidential election...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Russell Sage Foundation
2023-02-01
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| Series: | RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences |
| Subjects: |
| _version_ | 1811159114837917696 |
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| author | Ankit Rastogi Michael Jones-Correa |
| author_facet | Ankit Rastogi Michael Jones-Correa |
| author_sort | Ankit Rastogi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Conventional narratives of the 2020 presidential election typically overlook the growing importance of voters of color in suburbia, especially in battleground states such as Georgia and Virginia. Using novel precinct-level voting data for twenty-two states for the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, we analyze the relationship between precinct-level Democratic vote shares and the racial composition of suburban precincts. Predominantly White suburban precincts turned modestly toward the Democratic Party in 2020 relative to 2016, but had the election been decided in the precincts in which most White suburban voters live, Donald Trump would have won both elections handily. The outcome in 2020 depended on turnout in heavily Black suburban precincts, which voted overwhelmingly for Biden, and in Asian and Latinx precincts that also supported Democrats, though less strongly. As the suburbs become increasingly diverse, the new racial demography of suburbs should change conventional understandings of voting behavior in these spaces. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:35:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-606e95b1eec9490f9bbbfc0ca6a9f31f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2377-8253 2377-8261 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:35:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Russell Sage Foundation |
| record_format | Article |
| series | RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-606e95b1eec9490f9bbbfc0ca6a9f31f2023-03-06T19:36:31ZengRussell Sage FoundationRSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences2377-82532377-82612023-02-0192184203https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.2.08Not Just White Soccer Moms: Voting in Suburbia in the 2016 and 2020 ElectionsAnkit Rastogi0Michael Jones-Correa1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8596-9341Independent ResearcherUniversity of PennsylvaniaConventional narratives of the 2020 presidential election typically overlook the growing importance of voters of color in suburbia, especially in battleground states such as Georgia and Virginia. Using novel precinct-level voting data for twenty-two states for the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, we analyze the relationship between precinct-level Democratic vote shares and the racial composition of suburban precincts. Predominantly White suburban precincts turned modestly toward the Democratic Party in 2020 relative to 2016, but had the election been decided in the precincts in which most White suburban voters live, Donald Trump would have won both elections handily. The outcome in 2020 depended on turnout in heavily Black suburban precincts, which voted overwhelmingly for Biden, and in Asian and Latinx precincts that also supported Democrats, though less strongly. As the suburbs become increasingly diverse, the new racial demography of suburbs should change conventional understandings of voting behavior in these spaces.suburbsrace/ethnicitydemographyvotingelections |
| spellingShingle | Ankit Rastogi Michael Jones-Correa Not Just White Soccer Moms: Voting in Suburbia in the 2016 and 2020 Elections RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences suburbs race/ethnicity demography voting elections |
| title | Not Just White Soccer Moms: Voting in Suburbia in the 2016 and 2020 Elections |
| title_full | Not Just White Soccer Moms: Voting in Suburbia in the 2016 and 2020 Elections |
| title_fullStr | Not Just White Soccer Moms: Voting in Suburbia in the 2016 and 2020 Elections |
| title_full_unstemmed | Not Just White Soccer Moms: Voting in Suburbia in the 2016 and 2020 Elections |
| title_short | Not Just White Soccer Moms: Voting in Suburbia in the 2016 and 2020 Elections |
| title_sort | not just white soccer moms voting in suburbia in the 2016 and 2020 elections |
| topic | suburbs race/ethnicity demography voting elections |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ankitrastogi notjustwhitesoccermomsvotinginsuburbiainthe2016and2020elections AT michaeljonescorrea notjustwhitesoccermomsvotinginsuburbiainthe2016and2020elections |