Lucas County [Toledo] was the only county that did not give Barack Obama a majority vote. [link] I was curious to know why that happened so I examined the data from the board of elections.The map at right shows the percentages of black residents in the city. The dark green = +70%. The lightest tan = 0-8% black.
Wards 8, 10, 13, and 14 represent areas of heavy black voters; wards 1, 7, 22, and 23 are the least black wards.
In examing the primary results from March 4, the voters in the black precincts did not turn out as heavily as the 4 white wards.
The percent of turnout for Wards 8, 10, 13, and 14 were 31%, 39%, 40% and 39%.
The percent of turnout for Wards 1, 7, 22 and 23 were 49%, 56%, 53% and 50%.
The votes for Obama in the black wards were 88%, 81%, 90% and 89%
The votes for Obama in the white wards were 28%, 41%, 42% and 32%
Hillary received many more votes than Obama due to turnout of the voters in the white wards. If the black citizens are not going to get out and support Obama on election day, then it will be a difficult road to the nomination for Obama.
Further, suburban cities in the county turned out their voters at very high rates. Oregon, 95% white, turned out 57% of their voters and voted 70% for Clinton. Maumee, 97% white, turned out 44% of their voters and gave Clinton 62% of their votes.
Low voter turnout in the black wards kept Lucas County from being an Obama win. Had just these 4 black wards voted with the 56% turn out of Ward 7, Obama would have gained 4,808 votes. The outcome for Lucas County would then have been:
Obama 50,185
Clinton 50,902
That 700 vote difference could have easily been wiped out by higher turnouts in other heavily black wards like Wards 2, 4 and the eastern half of 6. Ward 2, heavily black, turned out only 22% of their voters.
Black Americans fought hard for the vote in the South during the 60's and ought to cherish the right to vote for a black man for President of this nation.
