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Rural areas like Lafayette County helped Donald Trump win presidency

Posted at 4:31 PM, Nov 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-09 19:17:24-05

There are more than 32,000 people living in Lafayette County, 68 percent of whom chose to vote for Donald Trump. 

For them a Trump win came as no surprise. 

“The silent majority has spoken,” said Trump voter Donna Shane. 

Most told 41 Action News they did not pay attention to the polls throughout the campaign, which said Secretary Hillary Clinton would win by a landslide. 

“If the polling places are predicting that Hillary is going to win by a landslide, which they were obviously, they weren’t calling Republicans or people who are fed up with the country and economy as it is,” said Trump voter Jini Wolski. 

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“He’s pretty dramatic and everything, but you know I think we needed a change,” said Trump voter David Wolski. 

Other counties in Missouri followed suit with Lafayette County. In Ray and Cass counties, 64 percent of people voted for Donald Trump. It’s a combination of these counties that helped him win Missouri by 56 percent of the vote. 

“We’re just as important in our vote and our voice as the people in the big towns and the people with the big money. That’s why I vote. I have as much weight in my vote as a billionaire does because I get one and so does he,” said Shane. 

Others that did vote for Clinton in Lafayette felt their vote did not matter as much, but still felt it was important to have their voices heard. 

“Well I knew that Lafayette County and Missouri would go Republican so I knew my vote probably wouldn’t count in the Electoral College,” said Clinton supporter Paula Koster.

Trump supporters said small communities tend to keep to themselves, which could explain why no one saw the Trump win coming.

“We are not into controversy here and so he is controversial, there is no question about it and he had the upset so he still has a controversy,” said Trump voter Barb Copenhaver. 

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Ali Hoxie can be reached at ali.hoxie@kshb.com

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