The reddest county in Pennsylvania only got redder during the 2020 presidential election.

Fulton County, Pennsylvania, had the highest percentage of Donald Trump voters in the state in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

In the 2016 election, President Donald Trump won 83.5% of the vote in Fulton County, according to the New York Times; however, President Trump won 85.5% of the vote in Fulton County in 2020.

John Mellott, a Fulton County resident and a steel worker, said that Trump appeals to the blue-collared American.

“He is for the American worker,” Mellott said. “That resonates well with the citizens in this county.”

Fulton County is in the heart of southcentral Pennsylvania. It is also among 10 other Pennsylvania counties in which President Trump won over 70% of the vote. In three of those counties, however, he won over 80% of the vote. Bedford County, Fulton County’s western neighbor, had the second highest percentage of Trump voters in 2020 with 83.5%, according to the New York Times’ election map.

Mellott, who voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020, said Fulton County residents have strong rural values that help them choose their candidates.

“People here really value the Second Amendment,” Mellott said. “It definitely is an important issue when voting. We also value a strong economy.”

Mellott is not the only one in Fulton County who values a strong economy.

Susan Glazier, co-owner of G&P distributors, a gambling supply business in the county’s seat McConnellsburg, said that her family depends on a president who focuses on the economy.

“Our business is our family’s livelihood,” Glazier said. “We need someone in office who is going to work tirelessly to build a strong economy and to keep as much money as possible in our pockets.”

Although the economy is an important issue for Fulton countians, President Trump’s large success in the county cannot only be attributed to that issue. 

Carolyn Kligerman, the chair of the Fulton County Democrat Club, said that there is a disconnect between the Democrats and rural voters.

“I believe that the Democratic National Committee has overlooked rural voters,” Kligerman said. “However, I do believe that there is an effort to solve that.”

Kligerman said that Fulton County is a very conservative place. With a population of just over 14,000, the county is very rural, and its citizens hold many rural, conservative values. Kligerman said that the county’s Democrat party is more conservative than other places in the country.

“We’re more conservative here,” Kligerman said. “People here are very family oriented, religiously oriented, and just generally conservative people. They’re also really good people, too.”

With such a high number of Trump supporters, many were disappointed when Joe Biden was announced as the winner of the 2020 election. Some Fulton County residents worried that their Second Amendment rights would be limited, and others worried that their taxes would go up. Despite the disappointment, no violence or failure to accept the results occurred in the county.

In an election day interview with Reuters, Rick Keefer, a 49-year-old Fulton County resident, summed up the county’s feelings on the election.

“It’s not the end of the world whoever gets it,” Keefer said.

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