| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | R | 4,257 | 13,200 | 17,692 | |
| 2020 | R | 4,760 | 13,622 | 18,669 | |
| 2016 | R | 4,727 | 13,116 | 18,711 | |
| 2012 | R | 7,254 | 10,267 | 17,914 | |
| 2008 | R | 8,880 | 9,404 | 18,641 | |
| 2004 | R | 8,816 | 10,388 | 19,352 | |
| 2000 | D | 10,201 | 8,490 | 19,212 | |
| 1996 | D | 9,814 | 5,354 | 17,358 | |
| 1992 | D | 12,744 | 5,504 | 21,481 | |
| 1988 | D | 11,023 | 7,677 | 18,783 | |
| 1984 | D | 10,667 | 9,656 | 20,377 | |
| 1980 | R | 9,425 | 9,731 | 19,856 | |
| 1976 | D | 12,818 | 7,420 | 20,324 | |
| 1972 | R | 8,545 | 10,121 | 18,729 | |
| 1968 | D | 10,095 | 9,036 | 21,074 | |
| 1964 | D | 13,581 | 7,620 | 21,201 | |
| 1960 | R | 11,368 | 11,861 | 23,266 | |
| 1956 | R | 11,308 | 11,761 | 23,069 | |
| 1952 | D | 11,981 | 11,723 | 23,766 | |
| 1948 | D | 11,750 | 9,407 | 21,444 | |
| 1944 | D | 11,663 | 11,377 | 23,213 | |
| 1940 | D | 15,523 | 12,936 | 28,660 | |
| 1936 | D | 15,254 | 10,708 | 26,625 | |
| 1932 | D | 14,754 | 7,560 | 23,290 | |
| 1928 | D | 11,369 | 9,900 | 21,622 | |
| 1924 | R | 5,791 | 6,779 | 17,121 | |
| 1920 | R | 4,894 | 7,608 | 14,886 | |
| 1916 | D | 6,419 | 6,371 | 13,608 | |
| 1912 | D | 2,435 | 2,098 | 5,809 | |
| 1908 | R | 2,401 | 2,539 | 5,233 | |
| 1904 | R | 1,801 | 2,077 | 4,151 | |
| 1900 | D | 2,226 | 2,117 | 4,411 | |
| 1896 | D | 2,233 | 2,038 | 4,297 | |
| 1892 | D | 1,782 | 1,631 | 3,686 | |
| 1888 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1884 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1876 | — | — | — | — |
Franklin County, anchored by the former coal-mining hub of Benton, has shifted sharply toward Republican presidential candidates over the past two decades as the regional economy moved away from extraction industries, producing some of the state's widest partisan gaps.
The Democratic margin in Franklin County peaked at thirty-four points in 1992. By 2004 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fifty-one points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.
The economic context is the key. Franklin County's median household income of $56,740 sits well below state and national norms, and 18% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Lawrence County and Muhlenberg County.