The Election-Related Questions Each State Googled More Than Every Other State
To say that the 2016 presidential election was anxiety-inducing would be an understatement for the ages. The near constant barrage of controversy and minute-by-minute media coverage saw the American voter posit alarm, and sometimes drastically.
And a pretty good barometer for measuring that alarm can be found when looking at election-related Google searches across all fifty states. From coast to coast, and across the political spectrum, you’ll notice a breadth of searches that recapture the humor, scandal and schadenfreude that characterized the 2016 campaign.
The data and research firm Estately tabulated this data in the form of a map, which provides a rundown of the states that queried certain election-related search terms more than others. The map is an indication of the election’s swerving course and unpredictable trajectory. Predictably, public fascination with Hillary Clinton’s emails, claims of rigged electioneering and even Billy Bush spike across the country’s Google searches.
Because Google is a search engine, and can’t judge you based on the obscenity and strangeness of your thoughts, some of the queries are predictably weird. In Indiana, “Bob Knight Trump” was the predominant search term, because Hoosiers were interested in the chair-throwing basketball coach’s endorsement of the GOP nominee. In California, citizen journalism was a dominant trend, with the Golden State’s electorate querying how Green Party Candidate Jill Stein spends her cash.
For a complete list of the results across all fifty states, see below:
ALABAMA: Deplorables for Trump / What happens if Trump wins? / judgment
ALASKA: Federal Bureau of Investigation / Obama approval rating / Drudge Report / David Pumpkins / Anderson Cooper / Groping
ARIZONA: Congress approval rating / John McCain age / Trump anti-semitic / Is Bill Clinton dying? / City Council election
ARKANSAS: Trump lewd remarks
CALIFORNIA: Trump ISIS plan / Mike Pence withdrawal / Jill Stein investments / Jill Stein memes / Biden vs. Trump / Why is Trump racist? / Can Democrats win the Senate? / AARP voter guide
COLORADO: Trump server Russia / 538.com electoral map / Trump newspaper endorsements / voter guide / Focus on the Family voter guide
CONNECTICUT: Kellyanne Conway SNL / KKK endorses Trump / Donald Trump endorsements / Trump quotes / Where is Jon Stewart? / Trump economic plan
DELAWARE: Donald Trump / LA Times poll / Trump Twitter / electoral fraud / Will Trump win? / voter intimidation
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Hatch Act / ABC Tracking Poll / Donna Brazile / bad hombre shirt
FLORIDA: Bloomberg Poll Florida / Bill Clinton rednecks / Who will win senate? / Putin Clinton war / Trump properties / Gingrich vs. Kelly / Tim Kaine harmonica / Christians for Clinton / Christian voter guide
GEORGIA: Nathan Deal colored
HAWAII: IBF poll / Why vote?
IDAHO: How to vote? / nasty woman mug
ILLINOIS: Marco Rubio shoes / Mike Pence statement
INDIANA: Bobby Knight Trump
IOWA: Donald Trump accusers / Joe Biden memes / Jill Stein vaccines
KANSAS: Obamacare rate increases / Bill O’Reilly Poll
KENTUCKY: Kellyanne Conway Twitter / Operation Mockingbird / Clinton conspiracy / Trump endorsements / grief counseling
LOUISIANA: David Duke debate / donate to Donald Trump / Is Trump racist? / Is the election rigged?
MAINE: Russian hackers / The Case Against Hillary Clinton / Trump groping women
MARYLAND: James Comey height / Comey Hatch Act / Michelle Obama Versace / KKK newspaper / Donna Brazile Wikileaks / election anxiety
MASSACHUSETTS: Impeach Hillary / Nate Silver Colbert / Gary Johnson fake heart attack / Curt Schilling rally / Trump insults
MICHIGAN: Trump quotes funny / Trump that bitch / Pantsuit Nation
MINNESOTA: Repeal Obamacare / Trump hot microphone / Jill Stein band / Can Democrats win the House? / Clinton Wall Street speeches
MISSISSIPPI: Bill Clinton black son / Jessica Leeds photos
MISSOURI: Scott Foval fired / Hillary Clinton conspiracy
MONTANA: Presidential polls / Trump book report / Trump Russia / Hillary Clinton health
NEBRASKA: Mike Pence plane / celebrity endorsements
NEVADA: Wikileaks Podesta emails / early voting results / Charles M. Blow / Democrats for Trump / Bikers for Trump
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Breitbart / Democratic National Committee / Project Veritas video / SNL 3rd debate / Chelsea Clinton / Bill Clinton accusers / latest polls / Donald Trump groping / bad hombres / I’m with her
NEW JERSEY: Bill Clinton dying / rigged meaning / Anthony Weiner email / Trump mask / Hillary Clinton accomplishments
NEW MEXICO: FBI internal feud / Oregon militia / Tim Kaine Spanish
NEW YORK: Russian hackers DNC / Biden on Weiner / Mike Pence revolution / sad Trump / voter intimidation law / Politifact Clinton Foundation / Lena Dunham rap / down ballot races
NORTH CAROLINA: early voting locations / Megyn Kelly Newt / Donate to Hillary / Malik Obama / conservative voter guide
NORTH DAKOTA: Donald Trump video / Arianne Zucker / Rasmussen Reports / Scott Foval / Ken Bone meme / Donald Trump age / CNN Electoral Map / pay to play / crooked Hillary / media bias / Corey Lewandowski
OHIO: Trump election rigged / reasons to vote for Clinton / Hillary Jay Z / Can Donald Trump read? / Is Politifact biased? / What happens if Trump loses?
OKLAHOMA: Is Hillary a lesbian? / Christians for Trump / Joe Exotic for President
OREGON: (nothing)
PENNSYLVANIA: Paul Ryan heckled / Is Trump the antichrist? / KKK endorsement / Jason Chaffetz Twitter / Clinton murders Politifact / Donald Trump accomplishments / voting booth image / Corey Lewandowski CNN
RHODE ISLAND: Billy Bush / Ken Bone Reddit / Uma Aberdeen (common way people misspell Huma Abedin’s name when Googling her)
SOUTH CAROLINA: Chris Christie meme
SOUTH DAKOTA: What does deplorable mean? / Project Veritas / Hillary Clinton age / “Clinton Cash” / When is the election? / Meghan McCain / Reince Prebus
TENNESSEE: The Crusader KKK / Donate to Clinton / Hillary for jail / Republicans for Clinton / down ballot
TEXAS: stress eating / What is lying? / bigly dictionary / Mike Huckabee Jaws / Trump mask Walmart / Ted Cruz and Kevin (from The Office) / hate speech definition / media bias chart / election violence / grounds for divorce / When will the election end?
UTAH: Evan McMullin / Who will win election? / Donna Brazile resigns / reasons to vote for Trump
VERMONT: Melania Trump / pussy bow / pussy bow shirt / Podesta Wikileaks / Wikileaks Clinton emails / FiveThirtyEight / How to move to Canada? / Huma Abedin / 270 to win / gerrymandering / Trump TV / nasty women / Grab them by the pussy
VIRGINIA: Tim Kaine mistress / Gary Johnson stunt / election party / Tim Kaine young / Clinton economic plan
WASHINGTON: Basket of Adorables / Hillary Clinton stamina / sad Ted Cruz / projected electoral college / NRA Voting Guide / election drinking game / progressive voter guide / bad hombre meme
WEST VIRGINIA: Obama erection video / Ken Bone video / Donald Trump cocaine / donate to Trump / Electoral College map / Make America Great Again
WISCONSIN: Freedom Caucus
WYOMING: lascivious behavior / Wikileaks / Where to vote? / rigged election / FBI reopens Clinton / Bill Clinton balloons / pathological lying / Trump or Clinton / Clinton or Trump / Debbie Wasserman Schultz
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Sam Blum is a News Staff Writer for Thrillist. He's also a martial arts and music nerd who appreciates a fine sandwich and cute dogs. Find his clips in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The A.V. Club and Vice. He's on Twitter @Blumnessmonster.