I echo that Lexington, VA. is at least for now a community with hallowed history. Yet university towns draw liberal educators and entrepreneurs that can quickly change the political fabric of the population. Once conservative towns like Asheville NC. and Greenville SC. have over the years actively recruited “hip” trendy liberal entrepreneurs to revitalize their downtowns. Asheville is now the San Francisco of the east and Bob Jones name and memory is fading in Greenville.
The two universities there (Washington & Lee and VMI) have about 4,000 students together. Lexington has about 7,000 inhabitants. I don’t know anything about the students although I would imagine VMI might not attract radical leftists. I know one retired professor who taught at VMI—a liberal Democrat (hated GWB) but not an extreme leftist. Haven’t had any contact with him for some years and don’t know what he thinks of how Sanders was treated.