It wasn’t a surprise that Donald Trump won big in Tennessee. But even those who forecasted his success didn’t predict numbers so high.
More than 61.5 percent of Tennesseans voted for him, higher than the 59.5 percent who went for Mitt Romney in 2012.
Prior to the election, a Vanderbilt poll showed an 11 percent lead over Clinton, while an MTSU poll showed a 12 percent lead. Both were conducted in late September.
By contrast, the final vote put Trump closer to 30 points ahead of Clinton.
County By County
Wayne County, near the Alabama border, had the largest voter gap in Tennessee: 86 percent of voters chose Trump; only 12 percent went with Clinton.
Middle Tennessee was a bit more evenly split, although support for Trump was still strong outside of Nashville. He got about two-thirds of the vote in Williamson County. In Wilson, he took 70 percent.
That’s where Robert Cash cast his ballot. Cash said he favored Sen. Ted Cruz or Sen. Marco Rubio during the primaries, but he had no qualms about voting this November for Trump.
“You have to go with the candidate in your party, even though I’m more conservative than what my party is. That’s who my party selected, and I’m cool with that,” he said.
Donald J. Trump(R)-1,501,889
Hillary Clinton(D)-831,167
Gary Johnson(I)-68,654
via
@SecTreHargett
#GoVoteTN— TN Elections POTUS (@tnpotus)
November 9, 2016
The only spots of blue in Tennessee were Davidson and Shelby counties — which contain the two largest and historically liberal cities in Tennessee, Nashville and Memphis — and Haywood County, which is evenly divided racially and has a history of voting for Democrats.
By The Numbers, Middle Tennessee
- Cheatham: Trump 71.4%, Clinton 24.5%
- Davidson: Trump 34.3%, Clinton 60.3%
- Maury: Trump 67.8%, Clinton 28.6%
- Montgomery: Trump: 56.4%, Clinton 37.9%
- Robertson: Trump 71.7%, Clinton 24.5%
- Rutherford: Trump 60.5%, Clinton 34.4%
- Sumner: Trump 70.5%, Clinton 25.5%
- Trousdale: Trump 66.8%, Clinton 30.0%
- Williamson: Trump 65.1%, Clinton 29.6%
- Wilson: Trump 69.8%, Clinton 25.5%
Clinton Failed To Reach Obama’s Level
In the end, the Democratic nominee fell by a wider margin than President Barack Obama four years ago.
And she also trailed him in total votes, with 868,853 statewide, compared to Obama’s 960,709. That’s the kind of clue that close observers watch, as it could say something about voter enthusiasm.
Regina McCathern, who is African American and from Lebanon, voted for Clinton. She had one theory about a lurking bias against the candidate: her gender.
“Just like Obama was African American, you know. So I think her being a woman, a female, it’s not what they say, but I know that’s what they’re thinking.”
Clinton underperformed Obama in key counties with heavy black population. Was whole margin in Wisconsin and Michigan
pic.twitter.com/hpC8ZcaLe9— Domenico Montanaro (@DomenicoNPR)
November 9, 2016
Clinton did hold her own in Nashville, capturing more votes and a larger percentage than Obama.
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