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

Lamar County changed its political identity.

Deep-red anchor on the Oklahoma border with a shrinking rural base

18762024·38 elections
Lamar County, Texas · Larry D. Moore · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+61
in 2024
Archetype
Realigner
since the recent cycles
Population
50,669
2024 ACS
Most similar
Henderson County
TX · similarity 1.00
26 precincts · 21,285 votes cast
Trump · R+61
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−60.9%
4,07917,04421,285
2020R
−57.4%
4,45816,76021,442
2016R
−58.7%
3,58314,56118,714
2012R
−50.3%
4,18112,82617,197
2008R
−42.0%
5,24312,95218,362
2004R
−38.4%
5,33812,05417,470
2000R
−27.4%
5,5539,77515,430
1996R
−2.3%
6,0756,39313,722
1992D
+3.4%
6,3285,77816,243
1988R
−3.0%
7,5538,02115,598
1984R
−25.4%
5,5049,27314,820
1980D
+8.0%
7,1786,09413,490
1976D
+31.8%
8,6014,44313,076
1972R
−45.7%
2,8657,73610,652
1968D
+11.3%
4,6353,39510,933
1964D
+41.7%
6,3032,5948,905
1960D
+12.3%
5,0843,9649,076
1956D
+0.6%
4,2024,1548,381
1952D
+16.9%
5,5243,9299,453
1948D
+63.2%
6,3061,0188,365
1944D
+71.7%
6,2837257,747
1940D
+82.6%
8,0387618,805
1936D
+89.5%
5,6213085,939
1932D
+87.8%
5,9113756,307
1928R
−14.3%
2,1632,8875,058
1924D
+71.2%
45873541
1920D
+62.4%
3,7656395,006
1916D
+81.1%
3,4123093,824
1912D
+75.4%
2,2862062,758
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%
Italian
0.5%
African American
9.7%
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
Baptist
21.8%
Other Christian
10.0%
Pentecostal & Holiness
7.5%
Catholic & Orthodox
6.6%
Methodist
4.4%
Mainline Protestant
1.8%
Non-Christian
0.3%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 47.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Lamar County's R+60.9 margin in 2024 reflects a pattern of accelerating Republican consolidation across northeast Texas, even as its population edges below 50,000 and Paris, the county seat, contends with long-term economic stagnation.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Lamar County peaked at eighty-nine points in 1936; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 1996 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of two points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.

The economic and demographic context is severe. Lamar County's median household income of $61,880 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 19% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Henderson County and Upshur County.