Immigrants or Elites?: Contextualizing the Motivation of the Rural American Vote in the Trump Era

Abstract

The rural American vote was central to Donald Trump’s presidential victory in 2016. In an attempt to unpack the strongest motivators for rural Americans who voted for Trump, analyses explored the importance of anti-immigrant and anti-elite sentiment using a subset of rural participants in the 2016 American National Elections Study. Through a combination of quantitative data work, qualitative case studies and an extensive literature review, it was found that both anti-immigrant and anti-elite sentiments are indicators of a vote for Trump. However, the research and analyses suggest anti-immigrant sentiment is a stronger indicator. 1 Johnson: Immigrants or Elites? Published by University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well, 2019