Traditional Michigan Democratic voters in inner cities such as Detroit and Flint helped President Obama win his second term in 2012, but didn't pack the same punch for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Republican Donald Trump remained a whisker ahead of Clinton Wednesday, Nov. 9, -- 48 to 47 percent -- with 99 percent of all precincts in the state counted.

Unofficial results show Clinton couldn't come close to Obama's performance four years ago in areas of the state with the highest percentages of black voters, including metro Detroit -- Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

Those counties accounted for 37 percent of the state's overall vote Tuesday, Nov. 8, and 55 percent went to Clinton. Obama took 69 percent of the same region's vote four years ago.

"I've been bearing the bad news for some time," said the Rev. Charles Williams, pastor of King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit and president of the National Action Network of Michigan. "This was the bell that I was ringing. We (needed) to have an intense amount of relationship building to push out young people and millennials.

"The Clinton machine relied so heavily on old relationships to deliver them a win ... They didn't realize there was a new set of voters out there with no loyalty to them," Williams said.

That enthusiasm gap showed itself in Genesee County, anchored by the city of Flint, which is 56 percent black.

Clinton's margin of victory was 52-42 percent -- a 19,000 vote advantage, but not close to Obama's performance in 2012 against Republican Mitt Romney -- a 63-35 percent win and 57,000-vote cushion.

In Wayne County, which is 39 percent black and includes voters from the city of Detroit, Clinton won 66 percent of the vote -- less than the 80 percent Obama won over Romney and the result was more than 10,000 fewer votes for the top of the Democratic ticket there.

"That is a huge difference," said Susan Demas, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics. "African American turnout (was) down, rural white turnout for Trump was up, and that was enough to put the state in play or win it for Trump."

Saginaw County, including the city of Saginaw, favored Trump 47 to 46 percent, making the GOP leader the first Republican to win Saginaw County since 1984, when Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale as part of a national landslide.

The percentage of voter turnout overall was down in Saginaw County -- from more than 65 percent in 2012 to 60 percent this year.

Turnout in precincts on the East Side of the city of Saginaw Tuesday ranged from 41 to 51 percent -- areas that are predominantly black and Hispanic.

Precinct break-downs have yet to be published by Genesee County, where seven precincts remained uncounted Wednesday morning.

With 97 percent of precincts counted countywide, turnout showed a drop in voting from 61 percent in 2012 to 58 percent this year.

County Clerk John Gleason said those who did vote tended more to be Reagan Democrats, who came out to vote because of pushes from organizations that oppose abortion and support the rights of gun owners.

"There was a firm effort" to turn those voters out, Gleason said. "They really spent some time and money."

Demas and Williams said worry about turnout in Michigan cities with the highest percentages of black voters surfaced most in recent days.

"What I heard way too much of was -- I feel like I'm just voting for the lesser of two evils," Williams said. "That doesn't give you the push to vote."