Republican Donald J. Trump’s road to the White House included Michigan’s 16 Electoral College votes as part of a thin 13,225-vote victory, the closest presidential election in terms of percentages in Michigan history.
According to unofficial results from the Secretary of State and the Genesee County Clerk’s office, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton 47.6 to 47.33 percent, a margin of .27 percent. The previous closest election in terms of percentages was Wendell Wilkie’s 1940 .33-percentage point win over President Franklin Roosevelt.
Trump won 75 of Michigan’s 83 counties, everything except Wayne, Oakland, Genesee, Washtenaw, Ingham, Kalamazoo, Muskegon and Marquette counties.
One explanation for the 13,225-vote margin of victory for now President-elect Trump in Michigan: How about 230,668 Democrats who stayed home this election?
Ed Sarpolus of Target Insyght found that in 2012, a total of 2,259,969 Michigan Democrats voted in the re-election vote of President Barack Obama. This year, 2,029,301 Democrats felt compelled to vote.