Trump did best in rural areas, but urban votes were more important to his nomination

Reports that suggest rural America is a guiding force behind Donald Trump's success are wrong, Bill Bishop and Tim Marema write for the Daily Yonder. During the Republican primaries and caucuses Trump earned a slightly larger percentage of votes in rural areas than he did in urban areas, but the U.S. has a much larger urban population, meaning Trump won the nomination largely on the strength of urban voters.

During the Republican nominating process Trump received 48 percent of votes in rural areas, 45.5 percent in micropolitan areas (counties outside of metro regions that have towns between 10,000 and 50,000 people) and 44.8 percent in metro areas, Bishop and Marema report. Overall, 47.2 percent of his votes came from the nation's largest cities (ones with more than 1 million residents) and 19.1 percent came from rural areas. (Yonder graphic: How Donald Trump performed in Republican primaries and caucuses)