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America’s urban-rural divide deepens
A deeply divided electorate delivered a split verdict on President Trump’s first two years in office on Tuesday, one that reflects growing chasms along geographic and ideological faults.
On one hand, suburban voters delivered a stern rebuke to an unpopular president, ousting both Republican incumbents who had embraced Trump and those who had sought to distance themselves. Democrats made big gains in Midwestern gubernatorial races, a step in the direction of rebuilding once-favorable political terrain that Trump had claimed.
On the other hand, rural voters stormed to the polls in virtually unprecedented numbers, delivering once again for the president they voted for in 2016 in a handful of critical Senate and gubernatorial elections in ruby red states.
“We’ve got some big schisms out there,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who won reelection in an exurban and rural district on Tuesday. “Rural America’s much more Republican than ever before.”
Exit polls showed three-quarters of voters said Americans are becoming more divided.
