Analysis Shows Great Voting Divide in Jefferson County, A Win for Ben Carson
Less than 10 miles separate the two largest voting boxes in Jefferson County, but the results in Tuesday’s Republican primary show a world of differences between folks voting in Hoover at Hunter Street Baptist Church and in Bessemer at Pleasant United Methodist Church.
A WBHM analysis of votes at Jefferson County’s largest polling places shows Marco Rubio was the top vote-getter at Hunter Street on John Hawkins Parkway. A few miles down on Interstate 459, a majority of Republican voters chose Donald Trump in the Pleasant Hill area.
Hunter Street is located in the 35244 zip code where the median household income is $76,469 and 6.3 percent of the residents are in poverty, according to Census estimates. Pleasant Hill is in the 35022 zip code where the median income is $30,369 and 32 percent of the residents are in poverty.
While Trump, the Republican frontrunner, won Jefferson County, he did not fare as well in Over the Mountain communities as he did in west and north Jefferson County.
Marco Rubio pulled in 812 votes or 38 percent at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church, compared with 542 votes or 25 percent for Trump at that location.
Rubio also had the largest percentage of votes at the Hoover Parks and Recreation Center, Lakeside Baptist Church, Homewood Public Library, and Prince of Peace Catholic Church.
Trump drew his strongest support in large boxes such as the Gardendale Civic Complex where he had 1,001 votes. Texas Senator Ted Cruz was second in that box on the Republican side with 745 votes, and he was consistently second in many of the large boxes in north and east Jefferson County. Trump also showed strong numbers at Trussville First Baptist Church and the Clay Community Center.
Although he ran a consistent fourth or fifth among Jefferson County Republican voters, Ben Carson did have some success. He tied with Donald Trump at Legion Field, the largest polling place in inner city Birmingham. Both Carson and Trump received two votes from the total 1,672 cast.
Carson was also the top Republican vote-getter at another Birmingham polling place – Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Titusville. Fifteen people voted Republican out of 1,078. Carson received five votes, compared with three each for Trump and Rubio and two each for Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich.
The smallest polling box in Jefferson County is in Booker Heights, where there are 70 registered voters. A majority of the voters there on Tuesday – 29 – voted Democrat and chose Hillary Clinton. Two votes there went to Trump and one to Cruz.
For the Democrats, Hillary Clinton won at all of the 18 boxes reviewed by WBHM with more than 4,000 registered voters. The greatest support for Bernie Sanders was at the Hoover Parks and Recreation Center where he received 260 votes compared to Clinton’s 556.
Alabama coal mine keeps digging after hundreds of fines and a fatal explosion
Following the death of a grandfather, Crimson Oak Grove Resources has left a community afraid for their homes and lives. An expert warns one resident may need to evacuate her home while she still can.
Florida’s 6-week abortion ban will have a ‘snowball effect’ on residents across the South
Abortion rights advocates say the ban will likely force many to travel farther for abortion care and endure pregnancy and childbirth against their will.
Attitudes among Alabama lawmakers softening on Medicaid expansion
Alabama is one of ten states which has not expanded Medicaid. Republican leaders have pushed back against the idea for years.
Birmingham is 3rd worst in the Southeast for ozone pollution, new report says
The American Lung Association's "State of the Air" report shows some metro areas in the Gulf States continue to have poor air quality.
Why haven’t Kansas and Alabama — among other holdouts — expanded access to Medicaid?
Only 10 states have not joined the federal program that expands Medicaid to people who are still in the "coverage gap" for health care
Once praised, settlement to help sickened BP oil spill workers leaves most with nearly nothing
Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn’t turned out as expected.
