Presidential vote totals serve as a reminder of how much Lawrence differs from the rest of Douglas County; see how each precinct voted and turnout rates

The percentage of votes cast for 2016 presidential candidates Hillary Clinton (blue) and Donald Trump (red) are shown in this map of Douglas County precincts. For an interactive version of this map, go to ljworld.com/president2016

It doesn’t exactly take Sherlock Holmes and his goofy hat to uncover evidence that Lawrence is quite a bit different than the rest of Kansas. (Don’t even bring Sherlock’s pipe up in Lawrence, unless you want to get onto an entirely different conversation.) The recent presidential election results were the latest exhibit of how different Lawrence is, with Clinton winning big in Lawrence and Trump winning nearly everywhere else in Kansas.

But what sometimes doesn’t get much attention is just how different Lawrence is than the rest of Douglas County. An analysis of last week’s presidential returns shows that the national trend of an urban-rural split among Clinton and Trump was in full force in Douglas County too.

Here’s one set of figures to drive that home: The largest vote percentage Trump received in any Lawrence precinct (technically any Lawrence precinct with at least 100 ballots) was 35.2 percent in precinct No. 49, which is the area in west Lawrence around the Corpus Christi Church. In the precincts outside the Lawrence city limits, the lowest vote percentage Trump received was 41.7 percent in Precinct 67, which is the area along U.S. Highway 59 that generally includes the Pleasant Grove area south of Wells Overlook Road.

In other words, Trump’s worst area in Douglas County was significantly better than his best area inside the Lawrence city limits.

To see all of this at a glance, take a look at the handy map that LJWorld.com online editor Nick Gerik produced. It shows Lawrence, even in its own county, is pretty much a sea of blue in an ocean of red. There were a couple of rural precincts that Clinton won, but the majority went to Trump, and Eudora, Baldwin City and Lecompton all went to Trump as well.

(Note: All these totals came from the unofficial vote count done on Tuesday night. The county has since added about 1,200 provisional ballots, but the totals in any one precinct didn’t materially.)

The percentage of votes cast for 2016 presidential candidates Hillary Clinton (blue) and Donald Trump (red) are shown in this map of Douglas County precincts. For an interactive version of this map, go to ljworld.com/president2016


Here’s a look at some numbers:

• Are you wondering where the Democratic strongholds are in Lawrence? These five precincts would be a good place to start. Clinton received her highest percentages from these precincts. (Again, a precinct had to have at least 100 ballots cast for me to consider it.)

• Precinct 40, which votes at Trinity Lutheran Church at 1245 New Hampshire Street: 83.3 percent Clinton

• Precinct 9, which votes at the Lawrence Jewish Community Center, 917 Highland: 82.5 percent

• Precinct 39, which votes at New York Elementary School in East Lawrence: 82.1 percent

• Precinct 2, which votes at the Lawrence Public Library in downtown: 81.3 percent

• Precinct 3, which votes at the Carnegie Building in downtown: 79.9 percent

Hillary Clinton received her highest percentages from these Douglas County precincts during the 2016 presidential election. For an interactive version of this map, go to ljworld.com/president2016


• Perhaps you want to take a vacation to Trump Country. You won’t have to travel far. Trump received his highest percentages from these five precincts. The numbers in parenthesis identifies the particular portion of the precinct. Rural precincts are larger in geographic area, so the county tracks votes there a bit differently.

• Precinct 59 (H54), which votes at Marion Township Hall in southwest Douglas County: 61.6 percent for Trump.

• Precinct 67 (S19 H54), which votes at Willow Springs Township Hall just west of Highway 59 west of Baldwin City: 59 percent.

• Precinct 53 (H10), which votes at Eudora Township Fire Station, which is in the southern part of Eudora: 58 percent

• Precinct 57 (S19), which votes at Lecompton City Hall: 55.4 percent

• Precinct 53 (H42), which also votes at the Eudora Township Fire Station in south Eudora: 53.6 percent.

Donald Trump received his highest percentages from these Douglas County precincts during the 2016 presidential election. For an interactive version of this map, go to ljworld.com/president2016


• I don’t know if there is a crown that goes with it, or perhaps just a voluminous head of hair, but Eudora may be the king of Trump Country in Douglas County. Eudora-based precincts had two of the top five, but the other precincts in Eudora also voted for Trump. In fact, Precinct 50, which votes at the Eudora Church of Christ in west Eudora had the actual highest number of Trump votes of any precinct in the county at 549. Its percentage for Trump was 51.5 percent, which kept it just out of the top five in that category. Interestingly, Precinct 50 also had the highest number of people who voted for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, 81 or 7.6 percent.


• While we are speaking of Libertarians, it is worth noting that the precinct that had the highest percentage of voters casting a ballot for the Libertarian candidate was Precinct 10. Where is Precinct 10? That’s the precinct that votes on the KU campus, and includes many of the student housing facilities on campus. It had 9.1 percent of its votes go toward Johnson. Trump won 11.1 percent and Clinton won 75.5 percent. However, only 208 people voted in the precinct, a turnout of about 22 percent.


• While we are speaking of voter turnout, here is a look at the top five and bottom five precincts in regards to voter turnout. As a reminder, the average turnout countywide was 61 percent. (Again, for the results below, I’m only counting precincts with at least 100 ballots cast.) [And here is a map that shows voter turnout at a glance.][2]

The top 5:

• Precinct 59 (H45), which votes at Marion Township in southwest Douglas County: 79.55 percent. (If you remember, that also is the precinct that voted most heavily for Trump. Turnout would suggest his supporters were enthusiastic there.)

• Precinct 51, which votes at Clinton Township Hall in western Douglas County: 76.95 percent

• Precinct 44 (H44), which votes at Lawrence Heights Christian Church on Peterson Road in northern Lawrence: 76.84 percent

• Precinct 66 (S19 H10), which votes at the First Church of the Nazarene in the part of rural Douglas County south of Lawrence: 76 percent

• Precinct 53 H10, which votes at the Eudora Township Fire Station in south Eudora: 75.81 percent.

Turnout was highest in these Douglas County precincts during the 2016 presidential election. For an interactive version of this map, go to ljworld.com/turnout2016

The bottom 5:

• Precinct 10, which votes on the KU campus: 21.96 percent

• Precinct 7, which votes at the Carnegie Building in downtown Lawrence: 28.96 percent

• Precinct 25, which votes at Central United Methodist Church near 15th and Massachusetts: 31.49 percent

• Precinct 8, which votes at Trinity Lutheran Church at 1245 New Hampshire: 34.64 percent.

• Precinct 30 S3, which votes at Schwegler Elementary: 35.35 percent

Turnout was lowest in these Douglas County precincts during the 2016 presidential election. For an interactive version of this map, go to ljworld.com/turnout2016

So, what does it mean that four of the five top turnout precincts were based outside of the Lawrence city limits and all five of the bottom precincts in terms of turnout were based in Lawrence? Well, some of it may be a technicality. Lawrence has a much more transient population — due to students — than rural Douglas County. When those students leave Lawrence, they sometimes still show up on the voter registration rolls, even though they no longer live here. That deflates the turnout numbers.

But, that may not be all of the story. It very well could be that Douglas County fit the national narrative that there were more people — especially those in rural areas — who were enthused about Trump than people initially thought. Turnout rates of more than 70 percent in those precincts show some genuine enthusiasm, or at least a strong desire to vote against Clinton.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from all of this is that it is worth remembering Douglas County isn’t homogeneous. There are parts of the county that aren’t that much different than the rest of Kansas. If Lawrence and Douglas County ever get serious about consolidating government services, that’s an issue that probably will loom large. You don’t have travel far from the Lawrence city limits to get a different view of the world, and what role government ought to play in it.

[1]: http://www2.ljworld.com/president2016/