President Donald Trump won 93 percent of rural counties in 2024. Rural voters also made up 36 percent of the Trump vote, according to the Pew Research Center, compared to just 16 percent of voters for Harris.

Political scientists Suzanne Mettler of Cornell University and Trevor Brown of Johns Hopkins argue that Democrats must work to bridge this urban-rural chasm, both for the sake of Democrats’ political fortunes but for the sake of preserving democracy.

Mettler and Brown are the authors of the new book, Rural versus Urban: The Growing Divide That Threatens Democracy, in which they argue for robust investments in rural America to rebuild the Democratic Party. They also lay out a surprising analysis of why Democrats lost rural voters. The blame lies not with major policy differences between rural and urban voters, but Democratic neglect and disdain of the rural vote.

Hosts: Anne Kim and Garrett Epps

Guests: Suzanne Mettler, Interim Chair & John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions, Cornell University; Trevor Brown, Postdoctoral Fellow in Moral and Political Economy, Johns Hopkins University.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Rural vs Urban Divide

02:55 Defining Rural Voters and Their Political Impact

05:39 Exploring the Myths of Rural and Urban Voter Differences

10:20 Historical Context: The New Deal and Rural Politics

14:17 Current Challenges for Democrats in Rural Areas

16:38 The Role of Race and Ethnicity in the Divide

19:55 The Importance of Competition in Rural Politics

25:25 Strategies for Democrats to Reconnect with Rural Voters