University of Pennsylvania Masthead Logo ScholarlyCommons CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research College of Arts and Sciences Electronic Journal 3-26-2019 Shift in the uburbS s: An Analysis of Changing Vote Patterns in American Suburbs, 2000-2018 Jack D. Weisman University of Pennsylvania,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/curej Part of the American Politics Commons Recommended Citation Weisman, Jack D., "Shift in the uburS bs: An Analysis of Changing Vote Patterns in American Suburbs, 2000-2018" 26 March 2019. CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania, https://repository.upenn.edu/curej/231. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/curej/231 For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Shift in the uburbS s: An Analysis of Changing Vote Patterns in American Suburbs, 2000-2018 Abstract In the 2016 Presidential Election, the movement of well-off, highly-educated suburbs towards the Democratic Party was one of the most significant yet undercovered stories. In this paper, I analyze the political changes in suburbs around five major cities (Boston, Charleston (SC), Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis) both in 2016 and in elections dating back to 2000. I find that between 2000 and 2014, municipalities close to core cities with high percentages of college graduates became slightly but significantly more Democratic, with much of this movement taking place around 2004 and 2006. Comparing 2016 to previous elections, I find that proximity to urban areas was indeed more significant than it was in the past, but much of the change in suburban areas can simply be traced to college educated voters becoming dramatically more Democratic.