The VP appears pretty popular in the Villages.
The Villages is a 55-plus retirement community located in Sumter County, Florida that has not voted for a Democratic candidate in a general election since 2000. In 2020, Donald Trump won 67.8% of the vote compared to Joe Bidenās 31.7% in the county. In 2016, Trump won 68.8% to Hillary Clintonās 29.5%. In 2008 and 2012, when Barack Obama carried the state, 63% of ballot castors in Sumter voted for John McCain and 67.2% for Mitt Romney, respectively. In other words, itās an extreme Republican-strongholdāwhich makes new enthusiasm for Kamala Harris there not great news for Trump!
Over the weekend, hundreds of golf cartsĀ paradedĀ around the Villages in support of Harrisās candidacy,Ā reportedlyĀ creating a traffic jam as they showed their excitement for the VP. āYoung people are energized and so are we,ā residentĀ Joyce WiegandĀ told Villages-News. Said her friendĀ Karen Wink: āKamala isnāt just for young people, sheās for all of us. She supports Social Security, Medicare and health care. That matters to us.ā
Iāve visited in-laws there a couple of times and the support for Trump is insane. Thereās a PA system in one of the squares and theyāll just broadcast Fox News shows over it.
And if youāve never seen it or been there, The Villages is HUGE and is made up of several very large āneighborhoodsā and is for the most part self contained with restaurants, hotels, bars, shops, movie theaters, etc.