| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | R | 8,881 | 27,518 | 36,714 | |
| 2020 | R | 8,129 | 25,458 | 33,939 | |
| 2016 | R | 7,094 | 21,964 | 29,917 | |
| 2012 | R | 8,431 | 19,904 | 28,717 | |
| 2008 | R | 8,878 | 19,329 | 28,506 | |
| 2004 | R | 7,650 | 17,814 | 25,553 | |
| 2000 | D | 15,548 | 7,066 | 22,818 | |
| 1996 | R | 7,131 | 11,446 | 20,333 | |
| 1992 | R | 7,735 | 11,030 | 21,664 | |
| 1988 | R | 6,627 | 11,885 | 18,532 | |
| 1984 | R | 6,138 | 13,116 | 19,289 | |
| 1980 | R | 7,784 | 9,734 | 17,846 | |
| 1976 | D | 9,262 | 8,845 | 18,187 | |
| 1972 | R | 5,218 | 12,459 | 17,972 | |
| 1968 | R | 4,199 | 9,428 | 18,333 | |
| 1964 | R | 7,931 | 8,924 | 16,855 | |
| 1960 | R | 8,259 | 11,080 | 19,339 | |
| 1956 | R | 6,693 | 10,667 | 17,360 | |
| 1952 | R | 7,202 | 10,093 | 17,295 | |
| 1948 | R | 4,415 | 5,902 | 11,674 | |
| 1944 | R | 5,499 | 6,083 | 11,582 | |
| 1940 | D | 6,321 | 4,569 | 10,890 | |
| 1936 | D | 6,505 | 4,523 | 11,028 | |
| 1932 | D | 5,785 | 3,992 | 9,826 | |
| 1928 | R | 3,000 | 4,597 | 7,597 | |
| 1924 | D | 3,832 | 3,594 | 7,476 | |
| 1920 | R | 3,843 | 4,312 | 8,155 | |
| 1916 | D | 2,110 | 1,941 | 4,060 | |
| 1912 | D | 1,702 | 105 | 3,355 | |
| 1908 | R | 1,491 | 1,685 | 3,176 | |
| 1904 | R | 1,024 | 1,080 | 2,104 | |
| 1900 | D | 1,265 | 792 | 2,057 | |
| 1896 | D | 1,425 | 511 | 1,938 | |
| 1892 | D | 1,053 | 323 | 1,626 | |
| 1888 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1884 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1876 | — | — | — | — |
Stanly County, anchored by Albemarle, has delivered lopsided Republican presidential margins for decades, with 2024's R+50.8 result reflecting a rural Piedmont electorate where manufacturing heritage and a predominantly white, non-college demographic profile reinforce durable partisan alignment.
The Democratic margin in Stanly County peaked at forty-eight points in 1912. By 2004 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fifty-one points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.
The economic context is the key. Stanly County's median household income of $60,704 sits well below state and national norms, and 15% 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 Lincoln County and Alexander County.