Race for Governor, 2022

Nearly every Rutherford County voting precinct favored incumbent Republican Bill Lee over Democratic challenger Jason Martin in the 2022 race for Tennessee governor.

According to official results from the Tennessee secretary of state, Martin polled best in precincts around the Middle Tennessee State University campus in central Murfreesboro and in precincts along the county’s northwest border with Davidson County.

Gubernatorial Voting in Rutherford County, by Precinct

R code

For reference, here is the code that produced the map:

# Required packages

if (!require("tidyverse"))
  install.packages("tidyverse")
if (!require("mapview"))
  install.packages("mapview")
if (!require("sf"))
  install.packages("sf")
if (!require("leaflet"))
  install.packages("leaflet")
if (!require("leaflet.extras2"))
  install.packages("leaflet.extras2")
if (!require("plotly"))
  install.packages("plotly")

library(tidyverse)
library(mapview)
library(sf)
library(leaflet)
library(leafpop)
library(readxl)
library(plotly)

# Download and import election data
# from TN Secretary of State web site:
# https://sos.tn.gov/elections/results

download.file(
  "https://sos-prod.tnsosgovfiles.com/s3fs-public/document/20221108AllbyPrecinct.xlsx",
  "RawElectionData.xlsx",
  quiet = TRUE,
  mode = "wb"
)

RawElectionData <- read_xlsx("RawElectionData.xlsx", sheet = "SOFFICELso")

# Filter, calculate, and select
# to get data of interest
# then store results in MyData dataframe

MyData <- RawElectionData %>%
  filter(COUNTY == "Rutherford", CANDGROUP == "1") %>%
  mutate(
    Lee = PVTALLY1,
    Martin = PVTALLY2,
    Total = PVTALLY1 + PVTALLY2,
    Lee_Pct = round(PVTALLY1 / (PVTALLY1 + PVTALLY2), 2),
    Martin_Pct = round(PVTALLY2 / (PVTALLY1 + PVTALLY2), 2),
    Winner = case_when(
      PVTALLY1 > PVTALLY2 ~ "Lee (R)",
      PVTALLY2 > PVTALLY1 ~ "Martin (D)",
      .default = "Tie"
    )
  ) %>%
  select(COUNTY, PRECINCT, Total, Lee, Martin, Lee_Pct, Martin_Pct, Winner)

# Download and unzip a precinct map to pair with the vote data

download.file("https://github.com/drkblake/Data/raw/main/Voting_Precincts_5_31_24.zip","TNVotingPrecincts.zip")

unzip("TNVotingPrecincts.zip")

All_Precincts <- read_sf("Voting_Precincts_5_31_24.shp")

# Filter for particular county precincts

County_Precincts <- All_Precincts %>%
  filter(COUNTY == 149) %>%
  rename(PRECINCT = NEWVOTINGP)

# Merge election data and map file

MergeFile <- merge(MyData, County_Precincts, by = "PRECINCT", all.x = TRUE)

# Drop unneeded columns from MergeFile

MergeFile <- MergeFile %>%
  select(PRECINCT,
         Total,
         Lee,
         Martin,
         Lee_Pct,
         Martin_Pct,
         Winner,
         geometry)

# Format MergeFile as a map, and
# call the map MyMap

MyMapFile <- st_as_sf(MergeFile)

mypalette = colorRampPalette(c('blue', 'red'))

MyMap <- mapview(
  MyMapFile,
  zcol = "Lee_Pct",
  col.regions = mypalette, at = seq(0, 1, .2),
  map.types = ("OpenStreetMap"),
  layer.name = "Pct. for Lee",
  popup = popupTable(
    MyMapFile,
    feature.id = FALSE,
    row.numbers = FALSE,
    zcol = c(
      "PRECINCT",
      "Lee",
      "Martin",
      "Total",
      "Lee_Pct",
      "Martin_Pct",
      "Winner"
    )
  )
)

# Showing the map

MyMap