| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | R | 1,235 | 5,731 | 7,079 | |
| 2020 | R | 1,424 | 5,918 | 7,521 | |
| 2016 | R | 1,880 | 5,502 | 7,536 | |
| 2012 | R | 2,390 | 4,974 | 7,560 | |
| 2008 | R | 2,742 | 4,903 | 7,928 | |
| 2004 | D | 4,069 | 3,555 | 7,723 | |
| 2000 | D | 4,102 | 2,988 | 7,235 | |
| 1996 | D | 4,686 | 2,034 | 7,427 | |
| 1992 | D | 5,341 | 2,425 | 8,571 | |
| 1988 | D | 3,873 | 3,644 | 7,566 | |
| 1984 | R | 3,906 | 5,622 | 9,587 | |
| 1980 | D | 4,894 | 4,040 | 9,180 | |
| 1976 | D | 6,835 | 2,726 | 9,566 | |
| 1972 | R | 1,908 | 7,010 | 8,998 | |
| 1968 | R | 1,672 | 2,140 | 7,886 | |
| 1964 | D | 5,635 | 3,031 | 8,679 | |
| 1960 | D | 2,817 | 2,430 | 5,444 | |
| 1956 | D | 3,817 | 2,117 | 6,006 | |
| 1952 | D | 4,303 | 2,010 | 6,321 | |
| 1948 | D | 2,415 | 435 | 3,702 | |
| 1944 | D | 2,506 | 311 | 2,818 | |
| 1940 | D | 4,138 | 670 | 4,817 | |
| 1936 | D | 3,457 | 563 | 4,049 | |
| 1932 | D | 4,312 | 252 | 4,636 | |
| 1928 | D | 2,324 | 1,182 | 3,518 | |
| 1924 | D | 1,182 | 393 | 1,723 | |
| 1920 | D | 1,201 | 633 | 1,922 | |
| 1916 | D | 1,174 | 511 | 1,685 | |
| 1912 | D | 593 | 205 | 1,081 | |
| 1908 | D | 843 | 462 | 1,315 | |
| 1904 | D | 599 | 310 | 929 | |
| 1900 | D | 520 | 180 | 702 | |
| 1896 | D | 572 | 130 | 712 | |
| 1892 | D | 493 | 100 | 608 | |
| 1888 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1884 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1876 | — | — | — | — |
Poinsett County sits in Arkansas's Mississippi Delta lowlands, where a shrinking, majority-white rural population has shifted its presidential margins rightward by roughly 40 points over the past two decades.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Poinsett County peaked at eighty-eight points in 1932; 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 twenty-seven points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. Poinsett County's median household income of $46,707 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 20% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Lawrence County and Little River County.