Editing Mercer County, Pennsylvania (section)

===Political bellwether===
Mercer County was previously considered a political bellwether for the state of Pennsylvania since its demographics, urban-rural ratio, and party affiliation once closely mirrored the state as a whole. In [[2000 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|2000]], [[Al Gore]] carried it against [[George W. Bush]]. This trend failed to hold true in [[2004 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|2004]] and [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]], in which Mercer County voted more conservatively than the rest of the state. In 2004, Bush won Mercer County with 51% of the vote. That year, [[John Kerry]] won the state as a whole with 51% of the popular vote. In 2008, [[John McCain]] won Mercer County by fewer than 200 votes, as he and [[Barack Obama]] each received roughly 49% of the popular vote. Obama won Pennsylvania as a whole with 55% of the popular vote. Each of the three statewide office winners also carried Mercer in 2008. In [[2016 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|2016]], [[Donald Trump]] won Mercer County by 12,403 votes, and he also won all of Pennsylvania. Each of the three Republican candidates for statewide office carried Mercer County in 2016. In [[2020 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|2020]], Trump again carried the county, despite Pennsylvania narrowly voting for [[Joe Biden]]. Trump won 62% of the vote, the largest majority for any major party candidate since [[1964 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|1964]], and the largest majority for a Republican since [[1928 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|1928]].{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}