The effect of region, demographics, and economic characteristics on county-level voting patterns in the 2000 presidential election

Abstract

This paper seeks to determine how region, demographics, and economic characteristics affected county-level voting patterns in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. The a priori expectation was that the geographic voting patterns that emerged in the election were largely attributable to countylevel differences in demographic and economic characteristics. The results of this study indicate, however, that although economic and demographic characteristics were important determinants of the voting patterns, the regional location of a county was also an important determinant. This suggests that unobserved region-specific cultural characteristics in the United States affected county-level voting behavior in the 2000 presidential election.