Donald Trump was consistently behind in the polling in Michigan since his nomination in July.

Yet Tuesday, he narrowly edged out Hillary Clinton by a little more than 13,000 votes.

So what happened?

Just as Obama's message of change resonated among Michigan voters in 2008, so Trump's call for change appeared to carry the day in 2016.



"America is going in the wrong direction and if we don't make some changes, we'll cease to exist as the country we have known," said David Lambright, a Lansing resident who went to Grand Rapids for a Trump rally on the eve of the election. "I agree with his stances and the more we get to know him, the more we support him."

And it didn't hurt that Trump campaigned hard in Michigan -- appearing at eight rallies throughout the state after his nomination in July, including three appearances in the last week of the campaign.



For Hillary Clinton, it was a repeat of the Democratic presidential primary -- losing a vote in Michigan that seemed just before the election to be almost a sure thing. On Tuesday morning, Nate Silver's fivethirtyeight.com website gave Clinton a 78 percent chance of winning Michigan. On Wednesday, it was clear that Clinton lost the state by 0.3 percent.

A close look at the number reveals that Trump won Michigan the same way he won Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- by way over-performing in working-class communities, which was enough to offset Clinton votes in the urban and surburban corridors.

As expected in Michigan, Hillary Clinton won the vote in metro Detroit as well as a handful of other urban counties.

But compared to Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Clinton underperformed in counties such as Wayne and Genesee, which have Michigan's largest African-American communities. Those two counties alone gave Obama a net gain of 439,202 votes compared to 308,270 for Clinton in 2016.

Clinton also underperformed in counties with large numbers of millennials. In five counties with a large college-age population -- Washtenaw, Ingham, Kalamazoo, Isabella and Marquette -- Obama racked up a net gain of 173,362 in 2012, compared to 123,155 for Clinton on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, there was a tidal wave of Trump votes in rural and small-town Michigan.

In 48 of Michigan's 83 counties, Trump got at least 60 percent of the vote. And in six counties -- Hillsdale, Kalkaska, Missaukee, Montmorency, Oscoda and Sanilac -- he got more than 70 percent of the vote.

By comparison, Mitt Romney exceeded 60 percent of the vote in only nine counties in 2012, and there were no counties where he got at least 70 percent.

Trump also flipped some working-class counties that Obama won in 2012. That includes Macomb, Saginaw, Bay, Monroe and Shiawasee counties. In all, there were 11 counties that voted for Obama in 2012 and went for Trump this week.

As Michigan GOP Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel watched the returns come in late Tuesday and early Wednesday, she noted the support that Trump was getting throughout Michigan.

"Macomb County has been huge for Trump," she said. "We've seen him outperforming in that county since the beginning. ... In the U.P. and Up North areas as well, and the downriver areas. He has outperformed in areas that aren't traditionally Republican."

No surprise, Romney McDaniel was thrilled with the outcome.

"I'm very proud to be an American tonight," she said.

Check out the list below to see how each Michigan county voted. Click on a candidate's name to see counties ranked for most to least votes.