There’s a lot at stake for rural America during each election cycle. When election season heats up, stay tuned to the Daily Yonder for reporting and analysis on the role of rural voters and rural issues in the race, the results, and the road ahead.
Commentary: Wake up, Democrats. Rural America Is More Than Just a Place to See Fall Color
Democrats can’t hang on to power if they routinely lose rural voters by 40 points. Something needs to change.
More Stories
Republican-Voting Mountain Counties in N.C. Urge State to Expand Medicaid
For months, the CEO of the Cherokee Indian Hospital has quietly traveled to county commission meetings in Western North Carolina to give presentations on the benefits of Medicaid expansion. Five counties and several towns in the region have responded with resolutions of support.
Rural Infections Drop by 5%; Death Rate Continues to Rise
Nine out of every 10 counties has a high rate of infection.
Reviewing the Rural Vote
Trump Maintains His Large Rural Margin; Democratic Vote Grows the Most in Mid-Sized and Large Metros
A big drop in third-party votes means both the Democratic and Republican candidates get a larger share of the total vote than they did in 2016.
Breaking Down the Battleground States
In Georgia, Atlanta Suburbs Deliver for Biden, But Extra Rural Votes Are Part of His Lead
Biden did slightly better with rural voters than Hillary Clinton did in 2016, contributing to his narrow lead over Trump. But Trump won rural voters 2 to 1.
Major-Metro Suburbs Give Biden His Margin of Victory in Pennsylvania
Biden got beat 3 to 1 among rural voters. But he improved his rural turnout enough to allow his metropolitan advantage to give him the win.
Modest Gains in Rural Votes Help Biden Flip Michigan and Wisconsin
In Ohio, where Donald Trump maintained a nearly 50-point advantage with rural voters, the president won the race statewide by 8 points.
The Presidential Campaign: Looking Back at the Race for Rural Votes
Electoral Patchwork: Both Parties Look for Success in a South That Is Less Monolithic
Democrats are betting that demographic and economic change will improve their chances of success. Republicans are trying to preserve a Southern firewall.
Electoral Patchwork: The Midwestern Path to the White House
Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota are once again at the center of the presidential race. Joe Biden holds a steady lead, but many experts believe the vote is still in flux.
Electoral Patchwork: Where Does the Rural Vote Fit in National Elections?
Could a decrease in rural support be part of a disappointing season for Republican candidates? The Daily Yonder looks at presidential and congressional races in three states: Pennsylvania, Maine, and Montana.
Analysis and Data
If Trump’s Rural Edge Has Eroded, What Does that Mean for Electoral Math?
The latest Fox News poll suggests Donald Trump’s rural advantage has dropped by two-thirds since 2016.
Distance and Density, Not Just Demographics, Affect Urban-Rural Vote
Are two people who are demographically identical likely to have different political preferences if one lives in a rural area and the other in an urban one? This study says yes.
What can we learn from prior Elections?
The Rural Buzz – A Special Series on Rural Social Media Activity During the 2020 Election
This Yonder-exclusive series analyzes the political sentiments of rural social media users in six battleground states.
The Rural Campaign Trail
How the Party Conventions Dealt with Rural America
High-profile speeches made limited mention of rural policy concerns, but new formats elevated stories from rural people and places.
Deep Canvassing: National Network Says Technique Offers a Way to Engage Rural Voters
A report from People’s Action says its “deep canvassing” project could have an impact on the 2020 election.
Commentary: In Wisconsin, a Democratic Plan to Reach Rural Voters Started with Listening
The party’s environmental caucus is helping candidates connect with rural voters by
fighting large-scale agricultural waste that they say harms communities.
Analysis: How Iowa Prepped the Field for Winning Back Rural Voters
This year’s Democratic candidates have better policies with which to court America’s rural voters. You can thank Iowa.
Book Review: ‘Harvest the Vote – How Democrats Can Win Again in Rural America’
The book by the head of the Nebraska Democratic Party makes strong arguments why Democrats should reach out for rural voters. The question is whether anyone will listen.
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The Issues and Policies to Watch
Covid-19 in Rural America
Rural Covid-19 Infections Increase Slightly; Deaths Decline
New infections grew by about 6% in rural America, while the number of deaths declined for the second week in a row. Michigan replaces Pennsylvania as the state with the highest rural infection rate.
The lives of more than 20,000 rural Americans have been claimed by Covid-19.
Source: USAFacts.org
Check out our Covid-19 dashboard for more coverage on the pandemic in rural America.
Rural Healthcare
From January 2010 to 2019, nearly 100 rural hospitals closed. Of those, 1 in 3 were critical access hospitals.
Source: Health Resources and Services Administration
Addiction and Opioid Abuse
Drug Companies Raise Prices on Rural Patients, Threatening Hospital Solvency
Several companies, including Eli Lilly, have changed how they participate in a drug discount program for patients at Critical Access Hospitals. The change will hurt patients and healthcare facilities, rural advocates say.
Overdose death rates for opioids and methamphetamines are higher in rural areas than urban ones.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Rural Broadband
Research Report: States with Broadband Funding Program Have Better Access
State broadband policies make a difference, a new report says. In particular, residents of states that have their own broadband funding programs did better. And in states that restrict municipal broadband, residents fared worse.
Racial Justice
Small Cities and Towns Join National Police-Violence Protests
Demonstrations and vigils in the nation’s smaller cities and towns show public support for Black Lives Matter and law-enforcement reforms.
The Post Office
Postal Polemic: How a ‘Lifeline to Rural America’ Became the Center of a Federal Frenzy
For rural Americans, more than just mail has been at stake in recent weeks as a battle over the United States Postal Service plays out at the federal level.
9 of 10 voters have a favorable view of the Postal Service. Yet from 2010 to 2020, nearly 700 Post Offices closed across the country.
Source: Pew Research Center, United States Postal Service
Our Land, Water, and Air
Democracy and Civic Life
Commentary: Fixing Democracy
The country is a mess. Don’t think it can’t get worse. And don’t think you can’t make it better.
Looking Back
The 2020 Presidential Primary
2016 in Retrospect
The 2018 Midterms
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