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Bridge Michigan
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Interactive map: What political bubble do you live in?

Every neighborhood in the city of Grand Rapids went Democratic in November, right? And everywhere north of, say, Saginaw is solid GOP country?

Not quite. 

In the first statewide map of precinct level results since the 2016 presidential election, Bridge allows readers to see how their neighborhood or community swung.

Islands of blue in deep sea of Trump red

Across Michigan, narrowly won by President Trump in a stunning reversal of expectations, pockets of Democrats backed Hillary Clinton. This map allows you to see if you agree with your neighbors; it's a first-of-its kind precinct-level map of the 2016 general election. You'll see Traverse City supported Clinton -- but overall, Grand Traverse County did not. And how precincts across the Upper Peninsula and in urban areas backed Clinton. And also how Trump rolled up huge margins in the rural Thumb and in western Michigan. To see how your precinct voted, type in your address, including your community, along with "MI" and ZIP code in the search box in the upper right. Once the map zeroes in on your neighborhood, click on the map to see how that area voted.

Source: Michigan Secretary of State

Don’t like being surrounded by Donald Trump supporters? In some cases, the data show, enveloping yourself in a bubble of progressive politics can be as simple as moving a few blocks west. 

More coverage: A conservative and two liberals swapped news feeds. It didn’t end well.

Yes, you’ll still see a clear ideological divide between voters in cities (largely Democratic) and those in rural areas (overwhelmingly Republican).

But this map now reveals some surprising bubbles of blue in dark-red regions, and vice versa, with abutting neighborhoods showing vast differences in voting preferences. 

So it is that a thin ribbon of Trump love appears in a neighborhood along East Fulton Street in Grand Rapids, an island in a sea of Hillary Clinton blue.  
Traveling north to the Upper Peninsula, classic Trump Country overall, you’ll spot two townships ‒ Mansfield and Mathias ‒ that serve as blue outposts for Clinton, each of them surrounded by Trump red.  

President Trump narrowly won Michigan, getting just over 10,000 more votes than former Secretary of State Clinton. He did so, in part, by rolling up overwhelming margins in rural areas of the state, with a number of counties switching from backing former President Obama in 2012 to supporting the GOP nominee in 2016.

Neighborly divides were plentiful across the state. 

For instance, Grand Traverse County backed Trump, giving him a 13-point victory over Clinton. But every precinct in the urban hub of Traverse City went for Clinton.

In suburban Detroit, Livonia backed Trump 49-45 percent. But a couple precincts in the southeastern part of that city backed Clinton.

Much has been written about Macomb County and the “Reagan Democrat.” Maybe they were really “Obama Republicans” – the blue-collar county went for President Obama in both 2008 and 2012. Macomb went for Trump 54-42 and almost every precinct in the northern part of the county or along Lake St. Clair backed Trump, with his support rising above 60 percent the farther north they sit.

Sometimes, the strongest support for two very different candidates sat side-by-side: In Saginaw County, the residents of Buena Vista Township, a majority African-American community, gave Clinton 81 percent of the vote. In the bordering township to east, voters in almost-all-white Blumfield Township gave Trump 80 percent of their support.

On the map, click on the precincts in and around your community to see how your neighbors voted in November. Ready to move? 

Bridge Magazine News Bubble Swap

Would you like to participate in your own news source swap? Bridge Magazine will pair you with a participant with significantly different news sources, and we’ll publish some of the results.

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