In past presidential elections, the Democratic Party has typically been the lead party in Oakland County. On the other hand, the Republican Party usually remains strong in elections within the state; this year is no different.  Hillary Clinton won the majority of Oakland County with 51.29 percent of the votes, leaving 43.23 percent to Republican Donald Trump, 3.46 percent to Libertarian Gary Johnson, and the remaining 2.02 percent to other third party nominees.

In an interview with John Turk from The Oakland Press, Frank Houston, chairman of the Oakland County Democratic Party, believes things played out as expected in the presidential race.

“It looks like a close night … but Republicans haven’t won [in presidential elections] in Oakland for 20 years,” Houston elaborates.

For Congress, Oakland County will be represented by two Democrats, Brenda Lawrence (14th district) and Sander Levin (9th district), and two Republicans, David Trott (11th district) and Mike Bishop (8th district).

The Representatives for State Legislature elected include: Democrat Jim Ellison (26th district), Democrat Robert Wittenberg (27th district), Democrat Tim Greimel (29th district), Democrat Jeremy Moss (35th district), Democrat Christine Greig (37th district), Republican Kathy Crawford (38th district), Republican Klint Kesto (39th district), Republican Michael McCready (40th district), Republican Martin Howrylak (41st district), Republican Jim Tedder (43rd district), Republican Jim Runestad (44th district), Republican Michael Webber (45th district), Republican John Reilly (46th district), and Republican Joseph Graves (51st district).

Oakland County has a history of being a stronghold of the Republican Party, yet the county has pulled toward the Democratic Party for the past five elections. Therefore, it is no surprise that Oakland County is now considered a swing county with almost equal representation from both Republican and Democrat parties in Congress and State Legislatures.