When it comes to early voting, rural voters are turning out in droves, while urban voters’ participation is declining in key battleground states. Given that rural voters tend to lean Republican and urban voters lean Democratic, this trend could be particularly consequential going into the election.
Since 2020, there has been over a six-point increase in rural early voting across the seven battlegrounds, while urban early voting decreased by over seven points, according to data from TargetEarly. Suburban voters only increased by about one point from 2020 across the seven swing states.
With just two days to go until the election, this may turn the tide in former President Trump’s favor.
There is a partisan split between rural and urban voters, which could shift the electoral outcome, and it has only widened over the last two decades.
Suburban voters have been split down the middle for the past two decades, with 50% identifying as Republican or Republican-leaning and 47% identifying as Democratic or Democrat-leaning, according to a Pew Research study from April.
Urban voters have a larger partisan gap, leaning heavily toward Democrats. In 1994, 58% of urban voters identified as…
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