akashic
1876–2024
Bell County, Texas
Bell County·Texas

Bell County voted Democratic for a century. The shift began with civil rights.

Fort Hood's shadow stretches across a purple-trending suburban county

18762024·38 elections
Bell County, Texas · Aualliso · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+16
in 2024
Archetype
Old Confederacy
since the recent cycles
Population
386,897
2024 ACS
Most similar
El Dorado County
CA · similarity 0.99
64 precincts · 131,013 votes cast
Trump · R+16
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−16.2%
53,97375,161131,013
2020R
−8.5%
57,01467,893127,690
2016R
−14.8%
37,80151,99895,701
2012R
−16.3%
35,51249,57486,425
2008R
−9.8%
40,41349,24290,334
2004R
−31.3%
27,16552,13579,724
2000R
−31.9%
21,01141,20863,291
1996R
−13.5%
22,63830,34857,049
1992R
−11.4%
18,68424,93655,077
1988R
−24.5%
17,75129,38247,551
1984R
−39.8%
13,32231,11744,762
1980R
−12.9%
15,82320,72937,885
1976D
+7.2%
17,49915,12632,912
1972R
−43.7%
6,84817,52524,411
1968D
+29.3%
11,8935,70521,145
1964D
+66.3%
14,5572,93817,512
1960D
+39.5%
10,6514,60615,288
1956D
+38.2%
9,6034,28513,932
1952D
+32.2%
9,4844,86214,358
1948D
+71.1%
7,5481,0699,113
1944D
+69.2%
6,9607638,955
1940D
+75.2%
7,4181,0508,468
1936D
+85.2%
6,1194756,621
1932D
+82.4%
7,6077248,354
1928R
−4.4%
3,0793,3666,452
1924D
+59.6%
7,2731,6329,457
1920D
+51.2%
3,5954836,081
1916D
+78.2%
3,6153564,167
1912D
+84.6%
3,0241283,425
1908
No data
1904
No data
1900
No data
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%
Polish
0.9%
African American
18.3%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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
13.4%
Baptist
13.3%
Catholic & Orthodox
12.6%
Methodist
3.1%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.9%
Non-Christian
1.3%
Mainline Protestant
1.2%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 53.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Bell County anchors one of Texas's largest military installations, giving it an unusually transient population that has steadily narrowed its Republican presidential margins over the past three election cycles before widening again in 2024.

The shift began with civil rights. 1980 marked the realignment in Bell County, by a thirteen points margin. The Republican margin reached its widest at forty-four points in 1972. The 2024 margin was sixteen points.

The political shift has tracked, in Bell County, the political shift of the South more broadly. A 49% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $68,865, and a 15% poverty rate describe the demographic context. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of El Dorado County and Chelan County.