What's up with Latah County?

[Tweed]

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/politicalInfo.php?locIndex=6980

Presidential politics: Latah County supported George W. Bush in the last two presidential elections. According to unofficial vote totals for 2004, Bush received 8,686 votes and Kerry received 8,430 votes.

In the November 2000 race, Latah County supported Bush. Countywide, 8,161 people voted for Bush and 5,661 voted for Gore. Nader received 999 votes.


Voters: Measured by the count of citizens age 18 and older at the time of the 2000 census, Latah County has the following numbers of potential voters:
Total: 26,842
Male: 13,949 (52.0%)
Female: 12,893 (48.0%)


So the Democratic candidate went up by almost 3,000 votes? Granted Nader was not on the ballot and he got 999 votes last time around, but that still leaves a huge gain in that county. Is there a back story to this county's shift?

[EvolveOrConvolve]

1. That's interesting

Isn't Latah county where the UofI and Moscow are located? If so, there might be a high population of implants that might be a little more open minded about the political process than other Idahoes.

The more liberal environment of the college campus might also explain the high vote count for Nader in 2000.

[JRob]

2. ...it's gettin' bluer all the time...

There a sayin' up here...

"these Californians come up here with a bag a money and think they can change everything..."

I say "yup" and sorta smile inside, go home and look for my bag...

Seriously, the northern party of the state is growing like crazy and there are a lot of progressives in the mix :toast:

[aePrime]

3. Indeed, you're correct

You're right on both accounts: the U of I is in Moscow, and Moscow is in Latah County. I live in Moscow, and oddly enough, attend the U of I.

There's a dichotomy up here: we have our share of university liberals, but we also have the standard Idaho conservative (stereotypically speaking; I'm a fifth generation Idahoan and my family is as liberal as can be).

I have no explanation for the shift though, but I like it.