| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | R | 4,576 | 9,692 | 14,598 | |
| 2020 | R | 4,753 | 9,552 | 14,635 | |
| 2016 | R | 3,763 | 8,708 | 13,779 | |
| 2012 | R | 5,630 | 7,938 | 13,929 | |
| 2008 | R | 5,809 | 7,456 | 13,620 | |
| 2004 | R | 5,158 | 8,395 | 13,778 | |
| 2000 | R | 4,650 | 7,370 | 12,834 | |
| 1996 | R | 4,864 | 5,580 | 12,359 | |
| 1992 | R | 4,278 | 5,390 | 13,621 | |
| 1988 | R | 5,109 | 6,898 | 12,173 | |
| 1984 | R | 4,469 | 8,399 | 12,977 | |
| 1980 | R | 4,915 | 8,051 | 14,122 | |
| 1976 | R | 5,792 | 7,479 | 14,039 | |
| 1972 | R | 4,347 | 7,791 | 12,729 | |
| 1968 | R | 4,585 | 7,039 | 12,350 | |
| 1964 | D | 6,069 | 5,851 | 11,937 | |
| 1960 | R | 5,353 | 7,084 | 12,453 | |
| 1956 | R | 3,067 | 7,965 | 11,059 | |
| 1952 | R | 3,129 | 8,152 | 11,308 | |
| 1948 | R | 4,804 | 5,068 | 10,016 | |
| 1944 | R | 2,842 | 7,018 | 9,949 | |
| 1940 | R | 3,678 | 7,533 | 11,301 | |
| 1936 | D | 6,637 | 2,679 | 10,267 | |
| 1932 | D | 6,716 | 2,027 | 8,955 | |
| 1928 | D | 5,341 | 3,611 | 9,016 | |
| 1924 | R | 270 | 2,255 | 7,076 | |
| 1920 | R | 796 | 5,841 | 7,240 | |
| 1916 | R | 1,101 | 2,078 | 3,482 | |
| 1912 | D | 1,359 | 472 | 3,161 | |
| 1908 | D | 1,536 | 1,518 | 3,357 | |
| 1904 | R | 869 | 2,073 | 3,031 | |
| 1900 | R | 1,471 | 1,695 | 3,256 | |
| 1896 | R | 1,469 | 1,807 | 3,383 | |
| 1892 | R | 1,080 | 1,174 | 2,807 | |
| 1888 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1884 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1876 | — | — | — | — |
Brown County's heavily German-Catholic settlement history anchored it to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor tradition for decades before a long partisan realignment; by 2024 it was returning presidential margins above R+35, among the wider shifts in rural southern Minnesota.
The Democratic margin in Brown County peaked at fifty-two points in 1932. By 1968 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-five points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.
The economic context is the key. Brown County's median household income of $69,378 sits well below state and national norms, and 9% 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 Bottineau County and Otter Tail County.