Like the rest of the nation, Lake County also saw a decline in Democratic Party turnout in November’s General Election.

Many of the Democrats who contributed to Joe Biden’s historic 81.2 million votes in 2020 over Donald Trump’s 74.2 million stayed at home on Election Day. The final vote tally in the 2024 presidential race had Donald Trump with 77.2 million votes over Kamala Harris with 74.9 million votes.

The drop in voter turnout in Democratic Party strongholds that showed up in northern Lake County’s urban areas was repeated across states. According to news reports, New York City cast 573,000 fewer votes for Harris than for Biden, Cook County, Illinois 295,000 fewer, Miami-Dade County in Florida 137,000, and Harris County in Texas 115,000.

Lake County’s largest populated cities are also its biggest Democratic vote centers. Gary, Hammond, and Merrillville cast nearly 10,000 fewer votes for Kamala Harris than for Biden.