Some rural counties are among 50 battleground counties to watch in presidential election

Fifty battleground counties could be the deciding factor in the 2016 presidential election, Louis Jacobson reports for Governing. "The outcome of the presidential election is determined by the Electoral College. But in many cases, it comes down to the ballots cast in just a handful of the country's more than 3,000 counties." While most of the counties Governing lists are largely urban, a few are mostly rural. Here's a look at some of those counties.

Marquette County, Michigan
(Wikipedia map)

Marquette County, Michigan: "The Upper Peninsula's biggest county, is historically Democratic, but it's overwhelmingly white and rural, making it a good spot for inroads by Trump," Jacobson writes.

Watauga County, North Carolina (Wikipedia)

Watauga County, North Carolina: The county is "rural and mountainous but also home to a university—Appalachian State—and the high-end tourist community of Blowing Rock, making it a microcosm of the state's urban-rural and young-old divides," Jacobson writes. "It's one of just four counties in the state with more unaffiliated voters than either Republicans or Democrats, and it has been a hotbed of controversy over election rules."

Cedar County, Iowa (Wikipedia)

Cedar County, Iowa: "The county has received attention ever since Al Gore and George W. Bush tied there in 2000, with Gore narrowly winning on a recount," Jacobson writes. "Cedar has gone for the popular-vote winner every four years since 1992 and observers say the results usually align with the statewide outcome."