Despite Support for Trump, Rural Voters Split with Republican Party on School Vouchers and Abortion

In the 2024 election, rural voters in several states backed Donald Trump by wide margins, yet broke with the Republican platform on key ballot measures – rejecting school vouchers and protecting abortion rights. These results highlight a more complex rural voter than broad political narratives often suggest.

“[Voters] are much more complex than is often portrayed,” said Nicholas Jacobs, assistant professor of government at Colby College and co-author of The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America. ​“Voters are thinking about what they want and are not in some cult … they’re more sophisticated than pundits and consultants like to treat them.”

Rural Voters Reject School Vouchers…Again

Republican-led state houses across the country continue to push for universal school voucher programs, which would allow taxpayer-supported education funding to flow into private schools through tuition credits. However, voters have historically rejected such measures, and Election Day 2024 was no exception.

In Kentucky, a state where Trump received about 65% of the votes for president, but only 35% of voters supported a constitutional amendment that would allow taxpayer dollars to be used for private school attendance.

In rural counties, where over 78% of voters backed Trump, just 35% supported school vouchers — a margin of 43 percentage points. This margin was much larger than in urban and suburban areas, which saw margins of 8 and 13 points, respectively.

In Nebraska, voters repealed an existing state voucher program, despite 78% of rural voters supporting Trump. Only 45% of rural voters backed the voucher repeal, resulting in a 33-point margin. 

In Hayes County, all but 4% of voters supported Trump, but 60% rejected the state voucher program.

Even in Colorado, where support for vouchers was higher, voters still rejected a constitutional amendment paving the way for school choice. In rural counties, 52% backed vouchers, compared to 55% who voted for Trump, resulting in a modest margin of 3 points.

In comparison, urban Colorado voters swung in the opposite direction. While only about 20% of major metro voters backed Trump, close to 40% of voters supported the school voucher amendment.

Such margins stem from rural voters’ deep consideration of how policies affect their local communities, Jacobs said in an interview with The Daily Yonder.

“Republicans at a national level sort of buy into a certain ideological way of thinking about school choice,” Jacobs said. ​“But at a local level, you’re sitting there thinking about how this is going to affect your community, your local school, maybe the school your children go to, and people will make a different choice.”

Smaller, but Notable, Rural Support for Abortion Rights

A similar pattern emerged on ballot measures related to abortion rights in nine states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota. While rural voters were more likely than urban voters to support restrictions on abortion, they voted in greater numbers for Republican Trump than for the Republican platform of limiting access to abortion.

On average, 61% of rural voters supported restricting abortion, compared to 49% in medium-sized metros and 37% in large metro areas. However, there was a gap between support for Trump and support for abortion restrictions: while 73% of rural voters in the nine states supported Trump, only 61% supported abortion restrictions — a 12-point margin.

This pattern was consistent across county types, from rural areas to major cities. Suburban counties in large metros were 11 points more likely to support Trump than to support abortion restrictions. Medium metro suburbs had a 12-point gap between support for Trump and support for abortion restrictions. And small metro counties had a 13-point gap. Large and medium metropolitan core counties saw smaller margins at 8 and 9 points, respectively.

“All voters are complex,” Jacobs said. ​“People voted for [Trump], even if they wanted more access to reproductive care or were disappointed that a national standard was lifted by the courts. They believed him when he said, ​‘I’m not coming for it [abortion access],’ and states gave them an opportunity to enact a policy that was closer to their belief.”