How Williamson County Voted For President

FRANKLIN, TN — On a night when much of the conventional wisdom was repudiated, Williamson County remained reliable.

Donald Trump won all 43 precincts in Williamson County, one of Middle Tennessee's most deeply Republican counties. In March's Republican primary, the county was, however, the only one of Tennessee's 95 that did not vote for the eventual nominee and now president-elect; the reservations about Trump that led to a big vote in the spring for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio did not carry into November.

Overall, there were 68,180 votes for Trump in Williamson County to 30,992 for Hillary Clinton, a 63-29 margin, with Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson leading the pack among the also-rans with 4 percent.

That 2-to-1 margin for Trump was fairly consistent county-wide; Clinton's only close call in the county was at the Walnut Grove Elementary precinct where Trump eked a 861-859 win.

Mitt Romney won the county in 2012 with 72 percent of the vote, though the raw vote totals for the former Massachusetts governor were virtually identical to those for Trump. Clinton earned about 5,000 more votes than did Barack Obama, while Johnson's total increased sixfold from four years ago.

More than 108,000 ballots were cast in Williamson County this year, an increase of 12,000 or so from 2012, but that increase seems to be driven more by growth than by enthusiasm, as turnout was virtually identical, suggesting perhaps that the county's newest residents are a bit more likely to vote for Democrats (or Libertarians).

Image via Patch Staff