Oakland County, MI, bastion of the GOP, turns blue--first time in over 40 years.
Republican and Patterson's hold on Oakland County may be at an end
Bill Laitner Published 8:05 a.m. ET Nov. 8, 2018
As this week's election fueled Democratic upsets nationwide, nowhere was the shift to blue more vivid than in Michigan's long-red Oakland County.
Once solidly Republican, Oakland County had been easing toward the middle from its conservative past, but Tuesday's returns swung the meter hard, electing numerous Democrats up and down county ballots.
In one of the most surprising results, the election gave Democrats their first majority on the county board of commissioners in more than 40 years. "That hasn't existed since bell bottoms and leisure suits were all the rage," said an exuberant Dave Woodward, the Democrats' county commissioner from Royal Oak.
Woodward is the Democrats' caucus chair, so he now commands an 11-10 majority on the county board. The shift from red to blue will change how Oakland County deals with its neighbors in Wayne and Macomb counties, on issues from mass transit to job creation, Woodward said.
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2018/11/08/republicans-oakland-county-blue-wave/1926713002/
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It had been 16 Republicans to 5 Democrats. This is a massive loss to Republicans, even though they're downplaying it.