WILKES-BARRE -- Luzerne County sided with the Democratic candidate in each of the past six presidential elections, but on this Election Day, residents went solidly for Republican Donald Trump.
Registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans in Luzerne County, so why did a blue county go red?
Election workers say voters turned out in big numbers in support of Donald Trump. That ultimately led Luzerne County to flip from blue to red.
Trump won in just about every precinct in the county, other than small parts of Pittston, Wilkes-Barre, and Hazleton.
The new Republican force in Luzerne County is a big change since 2012. That's when President Obama won Luzerne County with 52 percent of the vote. But Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton here with a whopping 58 share of the vote.
“People are tired of the professional politician so to speak, running government again and again,” said David Sosar, associate professor of political science at King’s College.
Now, Republican leaders in Luzerne County believe Trump's wave of success could help boost the GOP's voter turnout for years to come.
“I think there is a little bit of a realignment going on, led by Donald Trump,” said Kingston Mayor James Haggerty.
In the 18 counties in our viewing area, Trump garnered more than 404,000 votes. That nearly doubled Hillary Clinton’s vote total in our area.