City Changes: The Urban Counties That Flipped Their Vote in 2008

This chart lists the 113 counties where a majority of urban voters supported one party in the 2004 presidential election and a different party in 2008. All but one of these counties — Beaver County, Pennsylvania — flipped from Republican to Democratic.

The chart shows total votes for McCain and Obama and the percentage of the vote received by President-elect Obama.

The chart also lists when the county last switched its political allegiance in a presidential race. For example, the first county on the list, Jefferson in Alabama, had voted for the Republican nominee in every election since 1972, until switching its support to the Democrat this year.

STATE	COUNTY	COUNTY SEAT	VOTED IN ’08	HAD BEEN UNCHANGED SINCE	OBAMA VOTE	MCCAIN VOTE	% VOTE FOR OBAMA
AL	Jefferson	Birmingham	Democratic	1972	166,015	149,843	52.25%
CA	Butte	Oroville	Democratic	1996	41,474	39,954	50.23%
CA	Fresno	Fresno	Democratic	1996	123,132	122,255	49.73%
CA	Merced	Merced	Democratic	2000	32,535	27,988	53.27%
CA	Riverside	Riverside	Democratic	1996	210,905	197,517	51.13%
CA	San Bernardino	San Bernardino	Democratic	2000	279,507	252,716	51.89%
CA	San Diego	San Diego	Democratic	1996	632,207	520,030	54.33%
CA	San Joaquin	Stockton	Democratic	2000	90,851	74,318	54.46%
CA	San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo	Democratic	1996	66,978	60,253	51.99%
CA	Stanislaus	Modesto	Democratic	2000	75,106	74,025	49.82%
CA	Ventura	Ventura	Democratic	2000	159,915	126,614	55.22%
CO	Arapahoe	Littleton	Democratic	1968	128,366	100,409	55.44%
CO	Broomfield	Broomfield	Democratic	2004	16,031	12,675	53.80%
CO	Jefferson	Golden	Democratic	1968	155,020	129,291	54.24%
CO	Larimer	Fort Collins	Democratic	1996	84,461	68,932	54.76%
DE	Kent	Dover	Democratic	2000	36,392	29,827	54.26%
FL	Hillsborough	Tampa	Democratic	2000	272,461	235,819	53.38%
FL	Osceola	Kissimmee	Democratic	2004	59,081	39,489	59.69%
FL	Pinellas	Clearwater	Democratic	2004	248,050	209,912	53.87%
GA	Chattahoochee	Cusseta	Democratic	2004	830	811	49.97%
GA	Douglas	Douglasville	Democratic	1980	27,825	26,812	50.52%
GA	Rockdale	Conyers	Democratic	1980	20,526	16,921	54.29%
IL	Boone	Belvidere	Democratic	1948	11,324	10,396	51.69%
IL	DeKalb	Sycamore	Democratic	2000	25,765	18,260	58.01%
IL	DuPage	Wheaton	Democratic	1948	227,416	182,860	55.06%
IL	Kane	Geneva	Democratic	1948	105,592	84,223	55.27%
IL	Kankakee	Kankakee	Democratic	2000	24,719	22,508	51.98%
IL	Kendall	Yorkville	Democratic	1948	23,529	20,675	52.96%
IL	Lake	Waukegan	Democratic	2000	111,051	85,284	56.23%
IL	McHenry	Woodstock	Democratic	1948	71,976	64,595	52.33%
IL	McLean	Bloomington	Democratic	1968	37,551	36,657	50.18%
IL	Macon	Decatur	Democratic	2004	25,419	24,901	50.23%
IL	Sangamon	Springfield	Democratic	1996	51,176	46,857	51.82%
IL	Vermilion	Danville	Democratic	2000	16,228	16,046	49.94%
IL	Will	Joliet	Democratic	2000	154,691	119,049	56.22%
IL	Winnebago	Rockford	Democratic	2000	69,903	53,806	56.04%
IN	Delaware	Muncie	Democratic	2000	28,356	20,904	56.90%
IN	Madison	Anderson	Democratic	2000	30,152	26,403	52.58%
IN	Porter	Valparaiso	Democratic	2000	39,046	33,796	52.98%
IN	St. Joseph	South Bend	Democratic	2004	68,708	48,510	58.04%
IN	Tippecanoe	Lafayette	Democratic	1968	37,709	29,789	55.24%
IN	Vanderburgh	Evansville	Democratic	2000	39,368	37,449	50.75%
IN	Vigo	Terre Haute	Democratic	2000	25,023	18,111	57.15%
KY	Fayette	Lexington	Democratic	2000	66,042	59,884	52.00%
LA	Caddo	Shreveport	Democratic	2004	55,536	52,228	50.93%
LA	East Baton Rouge	Baton Rouge	Democratic	2000	99,652	95,390	48.20%
MI	Berrien	St. Joseph	Democratic	1968	40,376	36,128	52.25%
MI	Calhoun	Marshall	Democratic	2004	34,550	28,538	54.03%
MI	Kent	Grand Rapids	Democratic	1968	149,855	148,305	49.68%
STATE	COUNTY	COUNTY SEAT	VOTED IN ’08	HAD BEEN UNCHANGED SINCE	OBAMA VOTE	MCCAIN VOTE	% VOTE FOR OBAMA
MI	Macomb	Mount Clemens	Democratic	2004	223,754	187,645	53.78%
MI	Monroe	Monroe	Democratic	2004	39,180	35,858	51.64%
MN	Clay	Moorhead	Democratic	2000	16,666	11,978	57.35%
MN	Dakota	Hastings	Democratic	2000	116,778	104,365	52.17%
MN	Olmsted	Rochester	Democratic	1968	38,711	36,202	51.08%
MN	Washington	Stillwater	Democratic	2000	70,281	64,335	51.69%
MO	Boone	Columbia	Democratic	2004	46,960	36,803	55.47%
MO	Buchanan	St. Joseph	Democratic	2004	19,157	19,110	49.54%
MT	Cascade	Great Falls	Democratic	2000	17,486	16,675	50.33%
NC	Buncombe	Asheville	Democratic	2000	69,415	52,236	56.33%
NC	Cumberland	Fayetteville	Democratic	2004	73,926	51,596	58.56%
NC	Forsyth	Winston-Salem	Democratic	1980	90,712	73,304	54.85%
NC	Pitt	Greenville	Democratic	1996	39,763	33,429	54.00%
NC	Wake	Raleigh	Democratic	1996	247,914	183,291	56.93%
ND	Cass	Fargo	Democratic	1968	37,577	32,515	53.14%
ND	Grand Forks	Grand Forks	Democratic	1968	16,079	14,498	51.44%
NE	Douglas	Omaha	Democratic	1968	112,460	104,030	50.20%
NE	Lancaster	Lincoln	Democratic	1968	63,464	57,925	51.53%
NH	Hillsborough	Manchester & Nashua	Democratic	2000	104,516	97,331	51.33%
NH	Rockingham	Brentwood	Democratic	2000	83,673	82,102	50.04%
NJ	Somerset	Somerville	Democratic	1968	73,785	67,221	52.00%
NM	Sandoval	Bernalillo	Democratic	2000	32,451	25,097	56.01%
NM	Valencia	Los Lunas	Democratic	2000	15,255	13,094	53.47%
NV	Washoe	Reno	Democratic	1968	99,395	76,743	55.53%
NV	Carson City	Carson City	Democratic	1968	11,622	11,419	49.40%
NY	Dutchess	Poughkeepsie	Democratic	2000	64,759	55,601	53.65%
NY	Orange	Goshen	Democratic	2000	73,299	68,896	51.42%
NY	Rockland	New CIty	Democratic	2004	65,134	58,199	52.71%
NY	Saratoga	Ballston Spa	Democratic	2000	51,932	49,734	50.95%
OH	Hamilton	Cincinnati	Democratic	1968	208,802	187,862	52.33%
OH	Lake	Painesville	Democratic	2000	54,786	54,441	49.69%
OH	Wood	Bowling Green	Democratic	2000	32,956	28,819	52.87%
OR	Clackamas	Oregon City	Democratic	2000	102,647	82,974	54.35%
OR	Marion	Salem	Democratic	2000	61,241	58,625	50.00%
PA	Berks	Reading	Democratic	1968	92,852	76,044	54.60%
PA	Cambria	Ebensburg	Democratic	2004	30,697	29,981	50.31%
PA	Chester	West Chester	Democratic	1968	135,150	112,266	54.43%
PA	Dauphin	Harrisburg	Democratic	1968	69,588	58,114	54.26%
PA	Beaver	Beaver	Republican	1976	39,738	42,358	48.12%
SC	Charleston	Charleston	Democratic	1980	82,698	69,822	53.68%
SD	Minnehaha	Sioux Falls	Democratic	2000	39,831	39,241	49.36%
TX	Bexar	San Antonio	Democratic	2000	275,023	245,932	52.42%
TX	Cameron	Brownsville	Democratic	2004	48,401	26,641	64.09%
TX	Dallas	Dallas	Democratic	1968	424,468	309,477	57.49%
TX	Harris	Houston	Democratic	1968	588,611	570,143	50.46%
VA	Henrico	Richmond	Democratic	1952	86,262	67,340	55.82%
VA	Loudoun	Leesburg	Democratic	1968	74,607	63,328	53.65%
VA	Montgomery	Christiansburg	Democratic	2000	21,028	19,027	51.64%
VA	Prince William	Manassas	Democratic	1968	93,385	73,087	55.85%
VA	Chesapeake city	Chesapeake	Democratic	1980	53,993	52,624	48.91%
VA	Harrisonburg city	Harrisonburg	Democratic	1948	8,444	6,048	57.46%
VA	Hopewell city	Hopewell	Democratic	1956	5,285	4,149	54.26%
VA	Manassas city	Manassas	Democratic	1976	7,518	5,975	54.82%
VA	Manassas Park city	Manassas Park	Democratic	1980	2,460	1,634	55.62%
VA	Radford city	Radford	Democratic	2000	2,930	2,418	53.52%
VA	Suffolk city	Suffolk	Democratic	2004	22,233	18,592	53.98%
VA	Winchester city	Winchester	Democratic	1968	5,268	4,725	51.47%
WA	Clark	Vancouver	Democratic	2000	94,120	83,190	52.58%
WA	Skagit	Mount Vernon	Democratic	2000	29,414	24,202	54.02%
WI	Brown	Green Bay	Democratic	2000	67,241	55,827	54.37%
WI	Outagamie	Appleton	Democratic	2000	50,255	39,641	55.52%
WI	Racine	Racine	Democratic	2000	53,405	45,941	53.53%
WI	Winnebago	Oshkosh	Democratic	2000	48,156	37,943	55.59%
WV	Monongalia	Morgantown	Democratic	2000	16,853	15,612	51.57%

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