Democrats again lament their weakness in rural areas, but they don’t have an answer to the problem

In 2016, Trump helped to deepen the GOP’s maintain on rural voters, flipping scores of rural counties, a few of which had not backed a Republican presidential nominee for many years. In Iowa, tiny Howard County, which had not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee for seven straight elections, gave Trump 57 % of its votes after casting 60 % for Obama in 2012, a swing of 42 share level. Clinton County, which additionally had voted Democratic for seven straight elections, gave Trump 54 % of its votes after Obama had carried it with 61 % in 2012.