akashic
1876–2024
Wheeler County, Oregon
Wheeler County·Oregon

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

One of Oregon's least-populated counties, tilting hard right

18762024·38 elections
Wheeler County, Oregon · John Stanton · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+47
in 2024
Archetype
Populist
since the recent cycles
Population
1,485
2024 ACS
Most similar
Douglas County
OR · similarity 1.00
3 precincts · 868 votes cast
Trump · R+47
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−47.0%
210618868
2020R
−51.2%
217711965
2016R
−53.3%
155591818
2012R
−32.5%
266545858
2008R
−26.7%
281498812
2004R
−41.7%
245612880
2000R
−45.4%
202584841
1996R
−13.6%
299418874
1992R
−10.5%
267357860
1988R
−13.8%
274367673
1984R
−33.2%
253504757
1980R
−19.8%
282442808
1976D
+6.0%
402355779
1972R
−26.3%
267474786
1968R
−19.8%
292443762
1964D
+14.8%
458340798
1960R
−9.7%
4665661,032
1956R
−3.1%
5696051,174
1952R
−21.1%
4687191,188
1948R
−0.4%
411414841
1944R
−13.5%
414544962
1940R
−3.9%
6527051,360
1936D
+13.5%
6635021,190
1932D
+9.7%
6325191,165
1928R
−50.2%
224677902
1924R
−47.2%
2136851,001
1920R
−56.2%
2127971,041
1916R
−4.9%
5706291,216
1912R
−12.4%
222307686
1908R
−26.8%
236418678
1904R
−45.3%
161462664
1900R
−26.6%
243426687
1896
No data
1892
No data
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
2.6%
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
20.6%
Catholic & Orthodox
6.9%
Pentecostal & Holiness
6.1%
Methodist
2.2%
Non-Christian
0.1%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 64.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Wheeler County's roughly 1,500 residents make it one of the smallest electorates in Oregon, yet it consistently produces some of the state's widest presidential margins, reflecting the deep conservative lean of Oregon's high-desert ranching interior.

The Democratic margin in Wheeler County peaked at fifteen points in 1964. By 1980 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-seven points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.

The economic context is the key. Wheeler County's median household income of $55,284 sits well below state and national norms, and 11% 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 Douglas County and Powell County.