akashic
1876–2024
Brooke County, West Virginia
Brooke County·West Virginia

For seventy-two years, Brooke County voted Democratic. Then it stopped.

A small Ohio River county where presidential margins have swung sharply rightward over two decades

18762024·38 elections
Brooke County, West Virginia · Nyttend · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+45
in 2024
Archetype
Realigner
since the recent cycles
Population
21,805
2024 ACS
Most similar
Braxton County
WV · similarity 1.00
21 precincts · 9,782 votes cast
Trump · R+45
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−44.6%
2,6216,9869,782
2020R
−43.1%
2,9477,54510,656
2016R
−41.8%
2,5686,6259,696
2012R
−11.3%
4,0055,0609,328
2008R
−2.5%
4,7174,9619,855
2004D
+2.8%
5,4935,18910,773
2000D
+5.1%
4,6784,1959,405
1996D
+27.3%
5,3382,7419,500
1992D
+29.9%
5,6932,58210,415
1988D
+21.9%
6,2584,00610,306
1984D
+15.8%
6,6364,81911,498
1980D
+15.3%
6,4304,62211,795
1976D
+26.2%
8,1974,79212,989
1972R
−18.2%
5,2267,54412,770
1968D
+25.2%
7,5064,19113,141
1964D
+49.0%
9,8343,36413,198
1960D
+15.3%
7,8385,75413,592
1956D
+8.7%
7,0725,94413,016
1952D
+19.9%
7,5915,07312,664
1948D
+28.2%
6,6803,71810,512
1944D
+23.0%
5,7263,5889,314
1940D
+23.1%
6,4164,00410,420
1936D
+26.0%
5,9553,4859,495
1932D
+9.9%
4,9194,0109,206
1928R
−36.9%
2,4195,2777,744
1924R
−28.0%
2,0373,8586,501
1920R
−17.5%
2,1293,0605,335
1916R
−5.7%
1,2611,4222,803
1912R
−4.8%
8509722,519
1908R
−11.7%
1,0741,3742,563
1904R
−20.1%
7421,1301,933
1900D
+16.2%
1,0007171,744
1896R
−10.9%
7489351,708
1892D
+1.9%
7707401,554
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
1.2%
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
Catholic & Orthodox
8.5%
Other Christian
6.7%
Methodist
5.7%
Pentecostal & Holiness
4.4%
Baptist
2.5%
Mainline Protestant
1.6%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 70.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Brooke County, tucked into West Virginia's narrow northern panhandle along the Ohio River, backed Democratic presidential candidates as recently as 2008 but recorded a 44-point Republican margin in 2024, reflecting the broader realignment of working-class Appalachian voters.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Brooke County peaked at forty-nine points in 1964; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2008 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. Brooke County's median household income of $54,316 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Braxton County and Jefferson County.