Political party loyalty of United States counties
In the United States, 15 counties or county equivalents have never voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in their history, and 5 have never voted for the Republican nominee.[1] In recent decades, the number of electorally competitive counties has decreased, with most counties now consistently favoring one political party over the other.[2]
Records
[edit]
Highest party loyalty
[edit]Six counties or county equivalents have voted Republican for president in every election since they came into existence: Doniphan County, Kansas (since 1864), Leslie County, Kentucky (since 1880), Colonial Heights, Virginia (since 1952), Poquoson, Virginia (since 1976), Chugach Census Area, Alaska (since 2020) and Copper River Census Area, Alaska (since 2020). Eight other counties have never voted Democratic but have voted for a third party candidate, specifically former Republican president Teddy Roosevelt in 1912.[1] Several counties have voted Republican in every election except one since the party's first presidential race in 1856, though voted Democratic at some point before then (such as Union County, Pennsylvania). Most of these counties also supported Roosevelt in 1912.
Five counties and county equivalents have always voted Democratic for president – Brooks County, Texas (since 1912), Jim Hogg County, Texas (since 1916), Menominee County, Wisconsin (since 1964), the District of Columbia (since 1964) and Kalawao County, Hawaii.[a][1]
Longest unbroken streak
[edit]Gasconade County, Missouri holds the longest Republican voting streak, having voted for the Republican nominee in every presidential election since 1860.
The longest Democratic voting streak in presidential elections is held by Elliott County, Kentucky, which voted Democratic in every year from 1872 to 2012, though it voted Republican in 2016.[4] The longest ongoing streak is currently held by Northampton County, North Carolina, which has voted Democratic in every election since 1900.[1] Starr County, Texas voted Democratic between 1896 to 2020, but flipped Republican in 2024.[5]
List
[edit]The following list shows the last time each county voted for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominee as of the 2024 election.[1][6] Connecticut's historical counties listed were replaced as county equivalents in 2022 by planning regions.[7] Alaska does not report results by borough or census area, and the boundaries of these often change,[8] so estimates are shown based on current boundaries.[9]
- ^ a b Kalawao County elections are run by Maui County and it does not report results separately.[3] While precinct-level data is available, the first year that residents of Kalawao County voted is unclear.
- ^ The Democratic and Republican nominees were tied in the county in 1992.
- ^ The Democratic and Republican nominees were tied in the county in 1976.
- ^ a b c d e f Won by Southern Democratic nominee John C. Breckinridge.
- ^ The Democratic and Republican nominees were tied in the county in 1980.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ DeSilver, Drew (2016-06-30). "Electorally competitive counties have grown scarcer in recent decades". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
- ^ "Election Administration and Voting Survey 2022 Comprehensive Report" (PDF). U.S. Election Assistance Commission. 2022. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
- ^ Simon, Jeff (2016-12-09). "How Trump ended Dems' 144-year winning streak in one county". CNN. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
- ^ "Trump wins South Texas county that Democrats have won since 1896". KCBD. 2024-11-06. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
- ^ Menendez, Albert J. The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004. pp. 298–304. ISBN 0786422173.
- ^ "Change to County-Equivalents in the State of Connecticut". Federal Register. 2022-06-06. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ "Please read the information below before accessing Alaska FIA data" (PDF). USDA. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
- ^ "Alaska Presidential Results by County Equivalent, 1960-2020". RRH Elections. 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2024-11-20.