ABOUT THE REPORTS

During the Spring of 2023, RuralOrganizing.org launched a project to analyze, evaluate, and identify the top 100 counties for building progressive power building in small towns and rural communities. The counties selected for this effort have an impact across various campaigns and contribute to the success of rural progress on multiple fronts.

The process started by analyzing the rural counties with the closest margins in federal elections since 2020. From there, we examined points of greatest impact for the counties, i.e., shared House/Senate seats, etc. This data analysis resulted in 22 of the 45 House Seats and 10 of the 11 Senate Seats considered “battleground” races in the 2024 election. Our list does not include every rural county with a margin of 5-10% and/or a significant House/Senate seat. Some counties met these criteria but were excluded due to smaller population numbers or because a county with similar results shared more impact points across several elections. Additionally, some counties were included in this list that will not significantly impact state and federal elections. We included those counties because they present significant opportunities for local progressive leadership.

Finally, following the publication of our Top 100 Rural Counties Report, our super PAC RuralVote.org held state deep dives to dig into the data from the report. Once you complete the form, you'll have access to the following state deep dives:

Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin

CONTACT

If you have questions about this report or the state deep dives, please get in touch with Dani Cook at dani@ruralvote.org, project lead for the 100 Top Rural Counties Project.