Critical Counties is a CNN series exploring 11 counties around the country that chief national correspondent John King has identified as key in the 2016 election. These counties could play an outsize role in the election and offer an instructive example of what the political parties have accomplished. Wake County is the fourth county in the series, which runs through Election Day. Explore the other critical counties.
Vigo County, Indiana, is used to getting its way in presidential elections. Since 1956, no presidential candidate has won the national popular vote without winning this county. So when people talk about bellwether counties, this is what they mean.
It’s not exactly representative of the rest of the country, but in its own way, Vigo County has followed national political trends more than anywhere else.
Population
Look, a bellwether
Representation
