The Vigo Effect: Why The County Will Be Watched During Election
The Vigo Effect: Why The County Will Be Closely Watched In Next Week’s Election
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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — No where in the nation has there been a more consistent gauge of an election than there has been in Vigo County over the last century.
The presidential candidates that has ultimately gone on to be president in all be three elections since 1888 have been the choice of voters in Vigo County. The only exceptions are 1908, 1952, and 2020.
There is no scientific way to explain why voters in Vigo County have been right way more often than not compared to the rest of the United States.
“Just dumb luck,” as explained by Indiana State University political science professor Matthew Bergbower.
But that doesn’t mean there are not things that can be explored to explain the phenomenon. Bergbower tells WISH-TV that Vigo County as a predominantly White population with a growing Hispanic population as well is also politically diverse.
“Vigo County does have four institutions of higher education and that’s a good population for Democrats,” he said. “And on the other side, Vigo County does have rural sections, farming sections in the county. That’s a good population for Republicans to get votes.”
As mentioned before, 1888 was the beginning of the hot streak in correctly picking the the eventual winner of presidential elections. That was the same year that Eugene Debs, a Terre Haute-native first ran for president while serving time in prison.
The county supported Donald Trump in 2020 in his failed bid for re-election. Bergbower predicts that will be the case again this year.
“When it comes to this election, I expect the county to continue to support Trump,” Bergbower said. “The county supported Trump in 2016. It’s supported Trump in 2020. And there haven’t been any changes in the county over the past four years.”
