Heavily Dutch Ottawa County, MI (the only county in the region to vote for George McClellan in 1864, but which has always voted Republican since), has the second-lowest percentage of White voters voting for Obama in Michigan. The county just North of it is Muskegon, which had half its Whites going for Obama in 2012. What’s going on?
Muskegon had a similar electoral profile to its neighboring counties right up until the election of 1936, when it developed a substantial population of New Deal/Reagan Democrats. After the Reagan aura faded, it resorted back to voting Democratic.
Muskegon had a lower percentage voting for Cruz than any neighboring county, while the same percentage of those voting for Trump as neighboring Newaygo County.
