How Ottawa County has voted over 100 years of presidential elections
OTTAWA COUNTY — The upcoming presidential election is shaping up to be a close one. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Vice President Kamala Harris has a slight lead over former president Donald Trump, as endorsements for Harris stack up ahead of the Democratic National Convention.
If past election results are any indication, a majority of Ottawa County voters will back Trump, and by a wide margin.
Over the last century, voters in Ottawa County — which historically has been a Republican stronghold — have stayed staunch in their support of the GOP.
The last time Ottawa County gave majority support to a non-Republican nominee was 1912, when it voted third party for former Republican President Teddy Roosevelt. He carried 50.43% of the vote in Ottawa County, but lost the election to Woodrow Wilson.
100 years of presidential votes in Ottawa County
Below are the percentage of votes given to the Democratic and Republican nominees in Ottawa County since 1924, according to the Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections:
1924 — Calvin Coolidge, Republican: 78.6%; John Davis, Democrat: 12.6%
1928 — Herbert Hoover, Republican: 85.5%; Alfred Smith, Democrat: 14%
Herbert Hoover won the presidency in a landslide, and Ottawa County was no exception. The 85.5% support is the most the county has given to a candidate in the last 100 years. Ottawa voters supported Hoover by the fourth-largest margin among Michigan counties.
1932 — Herbert Hoover, Republican: 58.3%; Franklin Roosevelt, Democrat: 38.6%
1936 — Alfred Landon, Republican: 51.4%; Franklin Roosevelt, Democrat: 44.3%
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first Democratic candidate to earn more than 40% of the vote in Ottawa County since 1916.
1940 — Wendell Willkie, Republican: 62.4%; Franklin Roosevelt, Democrat: 36.9%
1944 — Thomas Dewey, Republican: 66.2%; Franklin Roosevelt, Democrat: 33%
Ottawa County was among just 20 counties in Michigan in which FDR failed to earn majority support in any of his four elections. After losing the county by 7 points in his second election effort, FDR lost Ottawa by 33 points in his fourth.
1948 — Thomas Dewey, Republican: 63.4%; Harry Truman, Democrat: 34.8%
1952 — Dwight Eisenhower, Republican: 72.8%; Adlai Stevenson, Democrat: 25.6%
1956 — Dwight Eisenhower, Republican: 74.9%; Adlai Stevenson, Democrat: 24.8%
1960 — Richard Nixon, Republican: 75.3%; John Kennedy, Democrat: 24.5%
1964 — Barry Goldwater, Republican: 54.8%; Lyndon Johnson, Democrat: 45.1%
Lyndon Johnson won the 1964 election in a landslide, but Ottawa County was one of just three counties in the state to favor Republican nominee Barry Goldwater.
Still, support for Johnson was the highest a Democratic candidate earned in Ottawa over the last 100 years, and the last time a Democrat won more than 40% of the county’s vote.
1968 — Richard Nixon, Republican: 67.6%; Hubert Humphrey, Democrat: 25.2%
1972 — Richard Nixon, Republican: 72%; George McGovern, Democrat: 25.8%
1976 — Gerald Ford, Republican: 74.1%; Jimmy Carter, Democrat: 24.7%
1980 — Ronald Reagan, Republican: 67.9%; Jimmy Carter, Democrat: 24.4%
1984 — Ronald Reagan, Republican: 79.7%; Walter Mondale, Democrat: 19.9%
Ronald Reagan’s landslide victory, in which he won a record 525 electoral college votes, was reflected in Ottawa County. His 79.7% vote share in Ottawa was the county’s highest for one candidate since 1928.
1988 — George H. W. Bush, Republican: 76.2%; Michael Dukakis, Democrat: 23.3%
1992 — George H. W. Bush, Republican: 59.1%; Bill Clinton, Democrat: 23.1%; H. Ross Perot, Independent: 17.5%
George H. W. Bush was the first Republican nominee to drop below 60% support in Ottawa County since 1964. Still, he carried the county by 36 points.
1996 — Bob Dole, Republican: 64.4%; Bill Clinton, Democrat: 28.3%; H. Ross Perot, Reform: 6.6%
2000 — George W. Bush, Republican: 71.2%; Al Gore, Democrat: 26.8%
2004 — George W. Bush, Republican: 71.6%; John Kerry, Democrat: 27.6%
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2008 — John McCain, Republican: 61%; Barack Obama, Democrat: 37.2%
2012 — Mitt Romney, Republican: 66.4%; Barack Obama, Democrat: 32.2%
Barack Obama won Michigan in both of his bids for the White House, but Ottawa County was the largest supporter of his opponent in both elections.
Still, Obama's support of 37.2% in 2008 was the first time since 1964 voters in Ottawa gave more than 30% support to a Democrat. That trend has continued.
2016 — Donald Trump, Republican: 61.5%; Hillary Clinton, Democrat: 31.3%
2020 — Donald Trump, Republican: 59.8%; Joe Biden, Democrat: 38.4%
Although Donald Trump carried Ottawa County in his bid for a second term, this time by 21 points, it marked one of the lowest vote shares for a Republican in the last century. For just the fifth time in 100 years — along with 1992, 1964, 1936 and 1932 — support for a Republican nominee in Ottawa dropped below 60%.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa County history of presidential election results
