The Ohio county at the center of a controversy involving Haitian migrants swung even further to former President Donald Trump in 2024 compared to previous years.
Clark County went for Trump by 29.4 points this election, up 6.1 points from his 23.3 point victory over Biden in the county in 2020. The 2024 election results left Trump with 64.2 percent of the vote in the county, with Vice President Kamala Harris coming in with just 34.8 percent of the vote.
Springfield, the county seat of Clark County, was thrust into the national spotlight when as many as 20,000 Haitian migrants granted temporary protected status by the Biden administration were resettled there. Harris and Democrats slammed Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) for highlighting Springfield as proof of the Biden administration’s failed border policies.
But that rhetoric did not hurt Trump, who won 56 percent of precincts in Springfield, up from 49 percent in 2020 and 35 in 2016. Trump won almost exactly 50 percent of the 19,758 votes in the city, similarly marking a jump from his 45 percent and 43 percent of the vote in 2020 and 2016, respectively.
Springfield Republican Committeewoman Glenda Bailey told The Daily Wire that she believes the Haitian influx encouraged members of the community to support Trump.
“The first time Trump won, I said we could thank Obama because his policies caused the political shift to Republicans. This time I think we can thank Haitians for overwhelming this county with a stark 3rd world culture,” Bailey told The Daily Wire, saying that the increased support for Trump marked a backlash to the migrant surge.
“From what I saw at the polls a LOT of young voters arrived to vote for the FIRST TIME. I also had others tell me it was their first time voting, so I believe the Haitian crisis definitely made a difference to the majority of voters,” Bailey explained.
Now, Bailey says she’s optimistic about what a Trump administration could mean for her community.
“I have more hope for the future of America than I’ve ever had before and I have faith that President Trump will keep his promises to Springfield, Ohio & Aurora, Colorado starting on his first day in office,” Bailey told The Daily Wire, before explaining the specific policies that she hopes Trump pursues to remedy the migrant crisis in Springfield.
“Trump should immediately take away Haitian’s food stamps, welfare, housing, & medical benefits so that they will begin to self-deport,” Bailey explained, adding that they will begin to leave on their own accord if the government stops “spreading taxpayer cash around” and giving it to the migrants. “The Haitians that have jobs should also be put on notice as to what date their work visas end, so that they can begin to make plans for their departure,” Bailey stated.
The incoming Trump administration has already indicated that it will take up the hardline immigration stance it promised on the campaign trail, where the president-elect pledged to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history.” Trump has named Tom Homan, the former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as the new “border czar.”
“Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin,” Trump said in a statement.