February 10, 2020: There are 31 Pivot Counties in Iowa—counties that voted twice for Barack Obama and then voted for Donald Trump in 2016 (see map below).

In last week’s Iowa Caucuses, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg won 20 of these 31 counties. Senator Bernie Sanders won eight of them while Senator Amy Klobuchar won two.^[1]

Despite having been on the ticket when these counties voted for Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden was able to win just one Pivot County. The former Vice President finished second in 7 Pivot Counties and third in 10 more. He failed to finish among the top 3 in 13 of Iowa’s Pivot Counties.^[1]

In 2012, the Iowa Pivot Counties voted for President Obama by a 12-point margin, 55 percent to 43 percent. In 2016, they voted for President Trump by a 13-point margin, 53 percent to 40 percent. That’s a net swing of 25 points (from D+12 to R+13).

Click here to view the Number of the Day online→

Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.

Was this email forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day.