# Red/blue map by county? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875 "2008-11-09T03:03:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/1 "2008-11-09T03:03:09Z")
Four years ago, I came across a red/blue (Dem/Repub) map showing how the various counties in the USA voted. Has anyone seen one this time around? ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/2 "2008-11-09T03:06:25Z")
[Try this](http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/). About the fourth one down. It may not be exactly what you’re after, but the site overall gives some good perspectives. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/3 "2008-11-09T03:39:14Z")
Here’s a [better one](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/2008_General_Election_Results_by_County.PNG). ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/4 "2008-11-09T03:40:41Z")
That’s _much_ better. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/5 "2008-11-09T03:49:58Z")
Holy crap, there’s a lot of red on that map. As well as some odd-shaped counties, particularly in the West. Guess I’m just accustomed to the Midwest squares. Alaska and Oklahoma appear to be the only states without a single blue county. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/6 "2008-11-09T03:56:07Z")
The 2008 map of [“Purple America”](http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2008/) is the 2nd map down. This gives a much more accurate perception of the voting than the red and blue state maps. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/7 "2008-11-09T04:05:25Z")
On Purple America, Alaska is depicted a truly purple. Beats me. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/8 "2008-11-09T05:08:52Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > The 2008 map of [“Purple America”](http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2008/) is the 2nd map down. This gives a much more accurate perception of the voting than the red and blue state maps. I think this is the best one. With the above linked maps, the county could have a difference of, say, 30 votes and would still be a solid red or blue, even though just under half the people in that county voted the opposite way. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/9 "2008-11-09T06:42:39Z")
[http://uselectionatlas.org/](http://uselectionatlas.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/10 "2008-11-09T15:29:32Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Holy crap, there’s a lot of red on that map. A [cartogram](http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/) might be less misleading. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/11 "2008-11-09T16:31:11Z")
Oh yes. That’s much better. The other map made me think somebody didn’t count a few million votes. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/12 "2008-11-10T07:29:59Z")
Thanks to all who responded. Lots of cool stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Apex\_Rogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@Apex\_Rogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apex_Rogers)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/13 "2008-11-10T18:39:40Z")
[CNN.com](http://CNN.com) has interactive maps which you can use to see individual voting totals for each county. Here is the US interactive map: [http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/](http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/) Click on a state and then “Larger Map” to view individual counties. As an example, here is CA: [County Results - Election Center 2008 - Elections & Politics from CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#CAP00map) As a bonus, you can look at how the other races went, not just presidential elections. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/14 "2008-11-10T19:33:41Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > A [cartogram](http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/) might be less misleading. However, [this one](http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/countycartpurple1024.png) (the one taking into account population density and percentage of votes) is clearly an [archaeopteryx](http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~simmons/16cm05/1116/34-27-Archaeopteryx-L.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/15 "2008-11-10T19:38:39Z")
I find it interesting that the area around the major urban centers tends towards Democrat and the more rural areas tend toward Republican. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-blue-map-by-county/471875/16 "2008-11-10T20:25:02Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I find it interesting that the area around the major urban centers tends towards Democrat and the more rural areas tend toward Republican. It’s been that way for quite a few years now. Ed