CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — In the past two presidential elections, blue collar workers and union members have abandoned the Democratic party and supported President Donald Trump.

What You Need To Know

  • While Cleveland itself voted blue, the surrounding suburbs went red

  • A political science professor says it's because many blue collar workers feel abandoned by the Democratic party

  • The 2016 election is a good indicator of the trends

Cuyahoga County is an area that shows just how different people can vote, even if they're just miles apart. Although it's the home of Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, his party doesn't bode well with voters. While the majority of Cleveland voted Democrat, it's a different story outside the city's boundaries. 

The suburbs around it mostly voted for Trump.

“People resonate with the plight of the working class because after 2008 recession, a lot of people in this in this area lost their jobs, said Michael Asta, a Kent State graduate with a physics degree. He's currently inbetween jobs. "My Dad, he worked at the Walton Hills Ford plant. Walton Hills Ford Plant doesn't exist anymore. It existed for 30 plus years. And it's just gotten worse and worse, and nobody seems to want to do anything."

Asta says he didn't vote for Trump in 2016 because he didn't know if he trusted him. Now, he says, he trusts him completely.

“People like the idea that the system can change by somebody from the outside with a strong voice, a commanding spirit and a charismatic personality. That seems to have a grasp of strategy, of law and of the working man’s plight," Asta said. "I think people are tired of establishment politics, especially the Democratic Party."

Other voters point to what they feel Trump has done for the economy.

“He makes everybody money, helps businesses,” said Joe Beskid of North Royalton, who works at Lowe’s. He says he feels the Democrats can't be trusted. In fact, he says he will only accept election results if Trump wins. “I think they rip us off, trying to cheat, just like [Trump] said, ya know?”

Trump and many others in his party have been taking to social media and have given briefings on the belief that the election has been rigged. Trump last week held a press conference and claimed poll workers were burning ballots or counting ones that have been submitted past deadline. None of the claims have been supported with evidence. 

In a joint statement from the Elections Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees, the organizations said this election was the "most secure in American history."

"There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised," they wrote in the statement.

As for the trend of blue collar workers switching up their political stances, Baldwin Wallace Political Science Professor Tom Sutton says you have to first look at the 2016 election.

“Basically, I think going into 2016, what you saw was a reaction by blue collar workers, by the working class in Ohio in particular to the Democratic party that they saw as really having become this bi-coastal party of liberal elites who had basically left them behind. This is the party that, in their perception, was talking about technology and Silicon Valley and the benefits of global trade and Wall Street and 401k's — none of which they really saw as being part of their lives.”

Sutton says many of these voters feel abandoned by the Democratic party.

“Well, there's real and there's perceived and there’s being taken for granted. And quite frankly, in a lot of people's minds, it is one thing to be loved — another thing to be hated. But the worst thing is to be ignored or taken for granted. And I think that’s how that group is perceiving the Democratic party, and that perception I think got transferred to Hillary Clinton. She was seen as one of the elites. She represented New York as a senator. She'd been a first lady. The fact that she was Bill Clinton’s wife and that they were living in Arkansas for a long time didn't really resonate. It was more about what they saw her standing for.”

Sutton says while Biden isn't necessarily seen as “elite” he is seen as someone who’s been in Washington and to many blue collar voters, Sutton says that isn't a good thing, particularly to people who feel like they’ve been left out by Washington.

“Some people see Trump as having done something for them, and they stuck with the person that they like. Even though some manufacturing actually was hurt by some of his policies. He did institute steel tariffs that helped the steel industry and that was seen as a positive. But the other thing that Trump was able to get people thinking about, first of all, he really appealed to patriotism. And I think that is a very strong resonance particularly among working class voters. No. 2, to talk about opportunity and trying to restore opportunity for all. Whether he did it or not, that’s beside the point. That was his rhetoric and it worked.”

One question remains: Do Democrats have the opportunity to rebuild their trust with blue collar workers in the future?

Sutton says its possible.