| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | R | 697 | 3,331 | 4,088 | |
| 2020 | R | 825 | 3,356 | 4,225 | |
| 2016 | R | 816 | 3,161 | 4,101 | |
| 2012 | R | 1,189 | 2,647 | 3,895 | |
| 2008 | R | 1,427 | 2,537 | 4,060 | |
| 2004 | R | 1,759 | 2,389 | 4,177 | |
| 2000 | D | 1,880 | 1,824 | 3,770 | |
| 1996 | D | 2,255 | 1,064 | 3,742 | |
| 1992 | D | 2,268 | 1,108 | 3,880 | |
| 1988 | D | 2,162 | 1,460 | 3,629 | |
| 1984 | D | 2,002 | 1,663 | 3,685 | |
| 1980 | D | 2,583 | 1,190 | 3,826 | |
| 1976 | D | 2,794 | 649 | 3,693 | |
| 1972 | R | 1,411 | 1,542 | 3,089 | |
| 1968 | D | 1,632 | 564 | 3,444 | |
| 1964 | D | 2,867 | 519 | 3,409 | |
| 1960 | D | 2,746 | 1,121 | 3,867 | |
| 1956 | D | 3,088 | 838 | 3,936 | |
| 1952 | D | 2,910 | 851 | 3,767 | |
| 1948 | D | 2,702 | 454 | 3,195 | |
| 1944 | D | 2,845 | 637 | 3,491 | |
| 1940 | D | 3,212 | 758 | 3,971 | |
| 1936 | D | 3,523 | 773 | 4,303 | |
| 1932 | D | 3,987 | 572 | 4,584 | |
| 1928 | D | 2,896 | 940 | 3,839 | |
| 1924 | D | 3,128 | 767 | 3,999 | |
| 1920 | D | 3,987 | 1,107 | 5,213 | |
| 1916 | D | 2,222 | 692 | 3,002 | |
| 1912 | D | 1,706 | 555 | 2,577 | |
| 1908 | D | 2,117 | 706 | 2,930 | |
| 1904 | D | 1,598 | 556 | 2,251 | |
| 1900 | D | 1,877 | 670 | 2,577 | |
| 1896 | D | 1,670 | 495 | 2,209 | |
| 1892 | D | 910 | 277 | 1,421 | |
| 1888 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1884 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1876 | — | — | — | — |
Ballard County sits in Kentucky's far-western Jackson Purchase, a tobacco and soybean farming community whose presidential margins have shifted dramatically rightward over the past two decades, reaching R+64.4 in 2024.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Ballard County peaked at seventy-four points in 1932; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2004 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of fifteen points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. Ballard County's median household income of $66,164 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 15% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Harrison County and Choctaw County.