akashic
1876–2024
Kemper County, Mississippi
Kemper County·Mississippi

Kemper County was solidly one party for decades. In the last twenty years, it flipped.

A rural Delta-edge county where Black voters shape federal outcomes

18762024·38 elections
Kemper County, Mississippi · XTUV0010 · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
D+17
in 2024
Archetype
Populist
since the recent cycles
Population
8,729
2024 ACS
Most similar
Franklin city
VA · similarity 0.99
13 precincts · 4,086 votes cast
Harris · D+17
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024D
+16.9%
2,3811,6914,086
2020D
+23.3%
2,8871,7874,731
2016D
+22.6%
2,8271,7784,639
2012D
+28.7%
3,2391,7895,052
2008D
+25.3%
3,2561,9355,223
2004D
+7.7%
2,4652,1094,603
2000D
+9.3%
2,3111,9154,261
1996D
+16.5%
2,0481,4393,696
1992D
+9.5%
2,2431,8304,361
1988R
−1.4%
2,0692,1284,235
1984R
−5.9%
2,0892,3544,456
1980D
+17.5%
2,6011,8224,439
1976D
+18.2%
2,4361,6804,160
1972R
−52.3%
8372,7483,652
1968D
+14.6%
6551673,352
1964R
−83.9%
1912,1852,376
1960D
+43.1%
9311931,711
1956D
+77.5%
1,5861731,823
1952D
+62.1%
1,5933721,965
1948D
+4.5%
98291,517
1944D
+94.6%
1,345371,382
1940D
+94.3%
1,422421,464
1936D
+98.9%
1,47781,485
1932D
+96.1%
1,420271,449
1928D
+81.9%
1,4211411,562
1924D
+88.4%
91156967
1920D
+81.7%
1,3971291,552
1916D
+84.4%
939711,028
1912D
+88.8%
82820910
1908
No data
1904
No data
1900D
+71.4%
68086832
1896D
+83.7%
922721,016
1892D
+70.7%
65127883
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%
African American
47.5%
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
Methodist
17.6%
Baptist
15.4%
Other Christian
2.0%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.9%
Mainline Protestant
1.6%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Kemper County's electorate is majority Black, a demographic reality that has kept it reliably Democratic in presidential races even as surrounding rural Mississippi counties trend sharply the other way. Its sparse population of roughly 10,000 amplifies the weight of turnout swings.

The Democratic margin in Kemper County peaked at ninety-nine points in 1936. By 1992 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was seventeen points, the most Democratic-leaning result in the county's modern history.

The economic context is the key. Kemper County's median household income of $46,431 sits well below state and national norms, and 25% 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 Franklin city and Liberty County.