akashic
1876–2024
Spencer County, Kentucky
Spencer County·Kentucky

Spencer County changed its political identity.

One of Kentucky's smallest counties by population, one of its widest presidential margins

18762024·38 elections
Spencer County, Kentucky · Nyttend · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+57
in 2024
Archetype
Realigner
since the recent cycles
Population
20,193
2024 ACS
Most similar
Barren County
KY · similarity 1.00
9 precincts · 11,480 votes cast
Trump · R+57
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−56.7%
2,4158,92711,480
2020R
−54.3%
2,5308,73711,433
2016R
−55.4%
1,9217,1969,515
2012R
−37.7%
2,5495,7268,431
2008R
−35.5%
2,5195,3788,049
2004R
−41.7%
1,9704,8166,822
2000R
−33.4%
1,5543,1504,772
1996R
−6.2%
1,4041,6143,368
1992D
+2.5%
1,3831,3053,167
1988R
−9.9%
1,1211,3682,505
1984R
−23.0%
9101,4562,372
1980D
+12.8%
1,2169352,200
1976D
+23.6%
1,2097421,983
1972R
−39.2%
4811,1201,629
1968R
−9.7%
5647331,750
1964D
+45.9%
1,4225251,954
1960R
−3.9%
1,0481,1342,182
1956D
+15.0%
1,2148962,117
1952D
+27.9%
1,2837232,007
1948D
+44.4%
1,2984931,812
1944D
+38.0%
1,4436462,096
1940D
+50.5%
1,7285672,300
1936D
+44.0%
1,6476382,294
1932D
+41.2%
1,7737362,515
1928R
−24.6%
9471,5652,516
1924D
+15.7%
1,3209612,291
1920D
+31.8%
2,1351,1023,253
1916D
+36.4%
1,2715911,869
1912D
+49.3%
1,0522711,585
1908D
+34.8%
1,1755631,761
1904D
+31.3%
1,0245291,582
1900D
+33.6%
1,1745821,762
1896D
+23.3%
9695961,601
1892D
+42.8%
8483161,242
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%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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
21.5%
Other Christian
7.9%
Methodist
1.8%
Catholic & Orthodox
1.8%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.5%
Mainline Protestant
0.2%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 65.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Spencer County's 2024 presidential margin of R+56.7 places it among Kentucky's most lopsided rural counties, a pattern consistent with the broader shift of small Bluegrass communities toward overwhelming Republican alignment over the past two decades.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Spencer County peaked at fifty points in 1940; 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 six points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.

The economic and demographic context is severe. Spencer County's median household income of $102,618 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Barren County and Larue County.