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

For sixty-eight years, Wise County voted Democratic. Then it stopped.

One of Texas's most lopsided presidential counties sits just northwest of Dallas

18762024·38 elections
Wise County, Texas · Renelibrary · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+70
in 2024
Archetype
Realigner
since the recent cycles
Population
75,005
2024 ACS
Most similar
Eastland County
TX · similarity 1.00
28 precincts · 38,243 votes cast
Trump · R+70
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−70.0%
5,60532,38538,243
2020R
−68.2%
4,97327,03232,365
2016R
−69.7%
3,41220,67024,776
2012R
−67.4%
3,22117,20720,745
2008R
−55.7%
4,47115,97320,639
2004R
−51.8%
4,78315,17720,047
2000R
−39.1%
4,83011,23416,368
1996R
−9.8%
5,0566,33012,968
1992R
−0.6%
4,4784,55513,568
1988R
−6.8%
5,2886,06411,395
1984R
−28.6%
3,8566,95810,853
1980D
+3.5%
4,6744,3509,205
1976D
+28.4%
5,1332,8568,013
1972R
−41.4%
1,7414,2306,006
1968D
+13.5%
2,7741,9835,864
1964D
+47.1%
3,8521,3865,241
1960R
−1.8%
2,4702,5625,051
1956D
+8.5%
2,4432,0584,524
1952D
+14.9%
3,1212,3095,434
1948D
+69.2%
3,0644483,778
1944D
+67.1%
3,1144443,979
1940D
+76.5%
3,7514984,251
1936D
+77.3%
2,7373483,090
1932D
+80.4%
2,6812862,980
1928R
−32.4%
1,0932,1413,234
1924D
+66.6%
2,9585323,641
1920D
+53.3%
2,0315792,725
1916D
+71.8%
2,0232632,450
1912D
+72.9%
1,8421562,312
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%
African American
1.4%
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
19.3%
Other Christian
16.1%
Catholic & Orthodox
7.2%
Methodist
2.3%
Pentecostal & Holiness
0.7%
Mainline Protestant
0.3%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 54.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Despite lying within the Dallas–Fort Worth exurban orbit, Wise County posts presidential margins exceeding 70 points Republican, a gap that has widened steadily as the metro fringe has grown more rural in its voting patterns.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Wise County peaked at eighty points in 1932; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 1984 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of twenty-nine points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.

The economic and demographic context is severe. Wise County's median household income of $93,421 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Eastland County and Van Zandt County.