COLORADO, USA — Colorado is an island.
Yes, this state is land-locked, bordered by other states, but after last night’s election, Colorado is a blue island.
Even in counties he did not win, President-elect Donald Trump swung results more in his direction than in 2020.
In Colorado, Vice President Kamala Harris shifted support in her direction in about half of the state’s counties. Even in counties that she did not win, Harris outperformed President Biden in 2020.
For instance, in Mesa County, Trump beat Biden by 28 points in 2020. This election, Harris is down in Mesa County by 22 points. Still a large margin, but six points better.
“There's been a shift in population there. There's been a shift in demographics there,” Courtney Sievers said.
Sievers, who is from Mesa County, is the Director of Survey Research for right-leaning Magellan Strategies in Louisville.
“You’ve seen stuff for the school district pass there that are tax increases," Sievers said. "You've seen Democrats land on the city council there in Grand Junction. So, there has been a shift of demographics, as a whole, since 2020."
Many counties shifted more toward Trump in swing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
“I think the things that make Colorado stand out from those three states, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, is just generally, two things, it’s college education and just generally higher income voters on average,” Ryan Winger said.
Winger is Magellan Strategies Data Analysis Director.
He points to the makeup of Colorado’s electorate that has created a blue island.
“The statewide trend, it's just you do have more of these college-educated voters that are, maybe, voting on things other than their own economic well-being because they have the luxury of doing so,” Winger said.
“We have a very educated population and then we have a very large affluent population,” David Flaherty, Magellan CEO, said.
Flaherty agreed and suggested Colorado voters may want candidates with less baggage.
“The drama from the Republican party at the state level, as well as [Congresswoman] Lauren Boebert and Donald Trump, that continues to have unaffiliated voters to have pause in being, ‘I don't know if I want to vote for this Republican because I may not be sure what I'm going to get,’” Flaherty said.
> Below: the latest results in the presidential race: