Lake County is appropriately named. Most of the development in the suburban Orlando county is on isthmuses in between lakes. While Lake County is a booming suburban area with large numbers of young families, what really warrants its presence on this list is the mammoth retirement community of The Villages. The Villages has turned into a must-visit stop for Republican candidates and conservative commentators. Sarah Palin drew an audience of 60,000 to a campaign rally in 2008 — nearly the same size as the entire community.
The Daily Caller is ranking the 100 conservative friendliest counties in America. The rankings were determined using the following criteria:
•How counties have voted in the past two presidential elections
•Median household income, factoring in cost of living
•Home ownership percentage
•Married family percentage
•Civilian veteran percentage
•State unionization laws
•State tax burden–state income taxes, factoring in available deductions
•State concealed weapons laws, ease of carrying weapon legally
•State weekly religious attendance, as measured by Pew
•State abortion laws, as measured by Americans United for Life
•Intangibles, such things as a long conservative history, an ingrained military culture, prominent right-wing politicians.
(h/t to The James Madison Institute)
