Increase in Wealthy Voters May Have Carried Romney

Wealthy voters in Michigan and Ohio may have provided the margin of victory for Mitt Romney. Exit polls show that those making more than $100,000 turned out in much higher numbers than four years ago and broke heavily for the former Massachusetts governor, The Washington Post’s political blog The Fix reported.

In the 2008 GOP primary, the wealthy made up 22 percent of the vote in Michigan and 21 percent in Ohio. However, they made up 33 percent of the vote in Michigan this year and 30 percent in Ohio.

“In both states, Romney won this demographic by 14 points but didn’t win among any other income demographic,” the Post reported. “And given he won by such small margins overall — 1 point in Ohio and 3 points in Michigan — it’s not unreasonable to think he would have lost those states without the uptick in wealthy voters.”