LYNCHBURG, Va – Harry Truman. That’s the last Democratic candidate that the city of Lynchburg supported in a presidential election.
That may no longer be the case as current vote totals show that the Hill City backed Joe Biden in Tuesday’s election.
As of right now, voters in the city cast 17,447 votes for Biden and 16,697 for Trump, a difference of just 750 votes; however, more absentee votes, as well as provisional votes, could still be added to either candidate’s total.
In 2016, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in Lynchburg by 3,190 votes.
In 1948, Truman beat Dewey in Lynchburg by just 107 votes.
University of Lynchburg political science chairman Dr. David Richards said one reason is the absence of Jerry Falwell Jr.
In 2016, the now-former Liberty University president endorsed Trump.
“[Falwell’s] absence this time is definitely going to be a factor. How much of that was a factor is sort of hard to say. We did not get to see whether or not Jerry Falwell Jr. would’ve had a rally, or maybe even gotten Trump to come to campus. Who knows what would’ve happened?”
Richards also said other factors were the Lynchburg’s Democratic party being better organized this time around and younger voters moving into the Hill City.