Shifting political partisanship in the Manchester area: Freedom Township shifts Democratic, Bridgewater shifts Republican

Michigan flipped Democratic in this presidential election after voting Republican and supporting Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Looking at how counties voted, in general, Democratic counties strengthened their support for the Democratic candidate compared to 2016 and while some counties that voted Republican in 2016 flipped and supported Biden in this election or weakened their support for Trump, others strengthened their support for Trump this time around.

Washtenaw County is Democratic and became even more Democratic in this election. Excluding third party, write-ins, and voters who did not vote for President, this year Joe Biden won the county 73.64% to Trump’s 26.36%. In 2016 Clinton won 71.73% to Trump’s 28.27%.  While not a huge shift, this is a 1.91% point shift toward the Democratic candidate.

Even though we are in Washtenaw County, the Manchester area is reliably Republican. How did the Manchester area vote shift between parties from 2016 to 2020? Did we shift Democratic like the county overall, or did we strengthen our Republican vote like other Republican areas of the state? The answer is that we didn’t shift much overall, but did shift in interesting ways when broken down into precincts.

Overall, the Manchester area was and continues to be Republican-leaning, although we have shifted Democratic slightly. In 2016, Trump won in the Manchester area 57.69% to Clinton’s 42.31% of the vote. In 2020, Trump won with 56.57% of the vote to Biden’s 43.43%. This is a 1.12% point shift toward the Democratic candidate.

Voter turnout in every Manchester area precinct was up significantly from 2016 and in every precinct Trump got more votes than he did in 2016 and Biden got more votes than Clinton did in 2016. What changed is the percentage of the total votes that each candidate received.

Manchester Township Precinct 1 is Manchester Village, the only Democratic precinct in the Manchester area. In 2016 it supported Clinton 53.43% over Trump’s 46.57%. This year it supported Biden 53.84% over Trump’s 46.16%. Unlike Washtenaw overall, support for the Democratic candidate increased very little, only by .41% point, less than a percentage point.

Manchester Township Precinct 2, the non-village section of the Township, is a Republican precinct. In 2016 it supported Trump 61.97% over Clinton’s 38.03%. This year it supported Trump 60.96% over Biden’s 39.04%. This was a 1.01% point increase in support for the Democratic candidate.

Sharon Township is a Republican precinct. In 2016 it supported Trump 59.68% over Clinton’s 40.32%. This year it supported Trump 58.53% over Biden’s 41.47%. This was a 1.15% point increase in support for the Democratic candidate.

Freedom Township, a Republican precinct, shows the biggest shift of all Manchester area precincts. In 2016 it supported Trump 57.38% over Clinton’s 42.62%. This year it supported Trump 53.21% over Biden’s 46.79%. This was a 4.18% point increase in support for the Democratic candidate.

Bridgewater Township is the strongest Republican Precinct and is the only precinct in the Manchester area to shift more Republican, albeit slightly. In 2016 it supported Trump 62.63% over Clinton’s 37.37%. This year it supported Trump 62.80% over Biden’s 37.20%. This was a .17% point increase in support for Trump.

Vote counts from Washtenaw County Election 2016 Official Results and 2020 Unofficial Results.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.