akashic
1876–2024
Wolfe County, Kentucky
Wolfe County·Kentucky

For one hundred sixteen years, Wolfe County voted Democratic. Then it stopped.

One of Kentucky's smallest counties, with margins that dwarf statewide averages

18762024·38 elections
Wolfe County, Kentucky · W.marsh · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+50
in 2024
Archetype
Realigner
since the recent cycles
Population
6,443
2024 ACS
Most similar
Menifee County
KY · similarity 0.99
8 precincts · 2,919 votes cast
Trump · R+50
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−50.5%
6892,1632,919
2020R
−42.2%
8392,0972,979
2016R
−39.9%
7531,8042,635
2012R
−22.1%
9761,5422,559
2008D
+2.9%
1,4931,4082,968
2004D
+11.4%
1,7441,3853,155
2000R
−5.4%
1,1361,2672,425
1996D
+22.9%
1,2977722,297
1992D
+36.4%
1,6746972,684
1988D
+24.2%
1,5169162,480
1984D
+5.1%
1,3941,2572,693
1980D
+30.8%
1,8149512,805
1976D
+45.5%
1,7776592,458
1972D
+1.1%
9579361,917
1968D
+18.3%
1,1627582,207
1964D
+56.1%
2,0185622,597
1960D
+10.5%
1,5541,2592,813
1956D
+22.8%
1,6831,0592,742
1952D
+28.0%
1,5578762,435
1948D
+40.4%
1,9188132,733
1944D
+24.0%
1,4508892,341
1940D
+36.2%
2,2051,0323,237
1936D
+23.7%
1,5779722,549
1932D
+43.7%
2,3219093,232
1928D
+3.3%
1,3561,2702,626
1924D
+31.9%
1,5978212,435
1920D
+22.1%
1,4769392,432
1916D
+26.3%
1,1086451,759
1912D
+31.4%
8733951,524
1908D
+14.5%
1,1018181,947
1904D
+24.4%
1,1146761,796
1900D
+14.7%
9597121,683
1896D
+25.0%
9815831,589
1892D
+23.7%
6583861,146
1888
No data
1884
No data
1880
No data
1876
No data
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
100.0%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
0.0%
speak English only
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Other Christian
13.3%
Baptist
7.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
5.7%
Methodist
4.2%
Catholic & Orthodox
0.7%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 68.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Wolfe County's roughly 7,000 residents have shifted decisively toward Republican presidential candidates over the past two decades, producing a 50-point margin in 2024 that reflects broader Appalachian realignment patterns across eastern Kentucky.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Wolfe County peaked at fifty-six points in 1964; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2012 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of twenty-two points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.

The economic and demographic context is severe. Wolfe County's median household income of $30,417 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 38% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Menifee County and Braxton County.