In Bloomfield Township, Mich., where homes often sell for well over $1 million and Republicans have long dominated local politics, there was ample evidence of a strong showing for Mr. Trump on Tuesday.
At Birmingham Covington School, where one of the largest precincts in the township votes, the wait was already nearly an hour long before 8 a.m. Before noon, almost 350 of the roughly 1,100 people who were eligible to cast ballots there had voted, according to data from the township and the tally kept by workers at the polling site.
Im surprised, said Dawn Kramer, who decided she needed to make a Starbucks run first once she saw the line was about 200 people deep. In prior years wed come in and thered be three other people in there with us.
Ms. Kramer voted for Mr. Trump, as it appeared most of her neighbors did at Covington on Tuesday. As a Catholic, she said, abortion is her paramount concern: I vote with the church, thats my thing. And like many of her neighbors, Ms. Kramer said she was set on casting her ballot in person because it was familiar and felt more secure.
Im concerned about voter fraud, frankly, she said. I want it to count. And I want to see it go in the machine.
Oakland County, where Bloomfield is located, was once a Republican stronghold. But in an indication of how much it has changed, Mitt Romney lost the county to President Barack Obama by eight points in 2012, even though he grew up in neighboring Bloomfield Hills and his father, the former Gov. George Romney, had a house there until he died. Four years later, Mr. Trump also lost Oakland by eight points.
Hugh Carney, a Bloomfield resident who works in wealth management, was insistent about voting in person. I think its a terrific right. We should appreciate it. It took an hour. Ive got an hour, he said, his face covered by a mask emblazoned with the logo of a nearby country club.read more
In These Suburbs, Long Lines Were Good News for the President
