akashic
1876–2024
Mecosta County, Michigan
Mecosta County·Michigan

Mecosta County has voted Republican for as long as anyone can remember.

A rural lakeshore county where Republican margins have deepened each cycle

18762024·38 elections
Mecosta County, Michigan · Doug Coldwell · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+30
in 2024
Archetype
Republican loyalist
since the recent cycles
Population
41,242
2024 ACS
Most similar
Oceana County
MI · similarity 0.99
40 precincts · 22,521 votes cast
Trump · R+30
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−30.0%
7,68814,44522,521
2020R
−28.0%
7,37513,26721,049
2016R
−25.9%
5,82710,30517,259
2012R
−9.8%
7,5159,17616,980
2008R
−0.7%
9,1019,23818,664
2004R
−11.3%
7,7309,71017,581
2000R
−12.0%
6,3008,07214,754
1996D
+8.2%
6,3705,28913,124
1992D
+0.3%
6,0976,04715,835
1988R
−26.5%
4,7368,18112,981
1984R
−37.9%
4,0489,02313,142
1980R
−17.4%
5,2287,75414,528
1976R
−21.0%
4,7257,28712,221
1972R
−30.2%
3,7997,15811,134
1968R
−27.5%
2,7385,0538,426
1964D
+9.9%
4,2143,4547,677
1960R
−38.0%
2,3805,3067,703
1956R
−51.2%
1,7685,4927,279
1952R
−54.2%
1,5875,4367,102
1948R
−40.1%
1,5723,8035,557
1944R
−41.9%
1,7084,2175,995
1940R
−37.6%
2,1534,7596,932
1936R
−8.8%
2,6213,1766,341
1932R
−2.8%
3,1523,3366,635
1928R
−62.6%
1,0044,4225,463
1924R
−61.2%
7943,8845,047
1920R
−53.0%
1,1453,9325,258
1916R
−22.8%
1,4782,4554,279
1912R
−2.6%
9581,0593,945
1908R
−37.3%
1,1792,7234,136
1904R
−55.3%
8983,3134,365
1900R
−33.3%
1,3752,8024,282
1896R
−18.3%
1,9752,8874,995
1892R
−12.8%
1,4841,9703,806
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%
Italian
0.8%
African American
1.8%
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
Catholic & Orthodox
11.1%
Other Christian
8.5%
Mainline Protestant
5.0%
Methodist
3.0%
Pentecostal & Holiness
0.8%
Non-Christian
0.6%
Baptist
0.3%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 70.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Mecosta County, anchored by Big Rapids and Ferris State University, blends a small college-town footprint with a predominantly rural, non-Hispanic white electorate that has shifted steadily rightward over the past decade, reaching R+30 in 2024.

The Republican margin in Mecosta County reached its widest at sixty-three points in 1928. The margin in 2024 was thirty points, in line with the county's deep historical pattern.

Mecosta County's loyalty is rooted in its place. Median household income of $60,951, a 90% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 41,242 together describe a community whose political habits are deeply settled. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Oceana County and Crawford County.