| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | R | 488 | 2,071 | 2,587 | |
| 2020 | R | 572 | 2,114 | 2,743 | |
| 2016 | R | 535 | 1,966 | 2,608 | |
| 2012 | R | 910 | 1,587 | 2,568 | |
| 2008 | R | 1,090 | 1,455 | 2,600 | |
| 2004 | R | 927 | 1,696 | 2,636 | |
| 2000 | R | 954 | 1,458 | 2,469 | |
| 1996 | R | 1,012 | 1,112 | 2,538 | |
| 1992 | R | 1,057 | 1,132 | 2,783 | |
| 1988 | R | 1,243 | 1,535 | 2,790 | |
| 1984 | R | 943 | 1,976 | 2,935 | |
| 1980 | R | 941 | 1,990 | 3,042 | |
| 1976 | R | 1,424 | 1,789 | 3,232 | |
| 1972 | R | 1,145 | 2,228 | 3,376 | |
| 1968 | R | 1,252 | 1,971 | 3,548 | |
| 1964 | D | 1,952 | 1,627 | 3,579 | |
| 1960 | R | 1,543 | 2,267 | 3,814 | |
| 1956 | R | 1,478 | 2,303 | 3,781 | |
| 1952 | R | 1,506 | 2,298 | 3,807 | |
| 1948 | R | 1,735 | 1,840 | 3,588 | |
| 1944 | R | 1,864 | 2,185 | 4,058 | |
| 1940 | R | 2,492 | 2,585 | 5,099 | |
| 1936 | D | 2,945 | 2,165 | 5,138 | |
| 1932 | D | 3,012 | 1,740 | 4,804 | |
| 1928 | R | 1,730 | 2,601 | 4,338 | |
| 1924 | R | 1,994 | 2,227 | 4,411 | |
| 1920 | R | 1,786 | 2,075 | 3,971 | |
| 1916 | D | 2,457 | 2,126 | 4,650 | |
| 1912 | D | 1,341 | 686 | 2,459 | |
| 1908 | D | 1,376 | 1,101 | 2,575 | |
| 1904 | D | 1,236 | 1,163 | 2,558 | |
| 1900 | D | 1,585 | 1,204 | 2,827 | |
| 1896 | D | 1,598 | 1,261 | 2,890 | |
| 1892 | D | 1,282 | 1,006 | 2,532 | |
| 1888 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1884 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1876 | — | — | — | — |
Scott County's rural west-central Illinois landscape and small population make it a consistent outlier within a state that leans Democratic statewide, with 2024 presidential results showing a 61-point Republican margin.
The Democratic margin in Scott County peaked at twenty-seven points in 1912. By 1968 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixty-one points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.
The economic context is the key. Scott County's median household income of $66,705 sits well below state and national norms, and 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Pipestone County and Rock County.