akashic
1876–2024
Washington County, Maryland
Washington County·Maryland

Washington County was solidly one party for decades. In the last twenty years, it flipped.

Western Maryland's Blue Ridge gateway votes reliably conservative

18762024·38 elections
Washington County, Maryland · Photo by Jim Strongin · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+23
in 2024
Archetype
Populist
since the recent cycles
Population
155,709
2024 ACS
Most similar
York County
PA · similarity 1.00
47 precincts · 73,332 votes cast
Trump · R+23
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−22.9%
27,26044,05473,332
2020R
−20.9%
26,04440,22467,779
2016R
−30.5%
21,12940,99865,071
2012R
−17.6%
25,04236,07462,755
2008R
−12.9%
26,24534,16961,600
2004R
−28.5%
20,38736,91757,904
2000R
−20.5%
18,22127,94847,470
1996R
−11.8%
16,48121,43442,142
1992R
−11.9%
16,49521,97746,208
1988R
−28.3%
14,40825,91240,638
1984R
−33.9%
13,32927,11840,666
1980R
−22.5%
14,11822,90139,083
1976R
−11.9%
15,90220,19436,096
1972R
−40.6%
10,03924,23434,985
1968R
−14.0%
11,26616,05034,053
1964D
+21.8%
19,85812,75632,614
1960R
−6.6%
15,63217,82833,460
1956R
−25.4%
11,56219,45531,017
1952R
−16.4%
12,65717,65330,394
1948R
−5.7%
10,58811,88722,630
1944R
−3.7%
11,36512,22723,592
1940D
+12.2%
14,12511,05425,262
1936D
+13.9%
14,05010,61924,718
1932D
+11.9%
11,3708,92920,527
1928R
−36.0%
5,81612,40418,301
1924R
−20.6%
4,6207,46013,762
1920R
−11.9%
6,8528,75715,995
1916D
+4.9%
5,6425,09311,100
1912D
+78.3%
9,3771,9079,540
1908D
+100.0%
8,8334,518209
1904D
+100.0%
10,5204,581188
1900R
−100.0%
4,8625,47529
1896R
−10.3%
4,3825,42810,133
1892D
+3.2%
4,6674,3739,273
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%
Polish
0.7%
African American
9.3%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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
Other Christian
11.2%
Mainline Protestant
10.2%
Catholic & Orthodox
5.5%
Methodist
4.9%
Pentecostal & Holiness
3.7%
Baptist
1.3%
Non-Christian
1.2%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 62.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Washington County anchors Maryland's westernmost settled corridor, where rural and small-city voters have backed Republican presidential candidates by double-digit margins in every cycle since 2000, reaching a 22.9-point spread in 2024.

The Democratic margin in Washington County peaked at 100 points in 1904. By 1968 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twenty-three points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.

The economic context is the key. Washington County's median household income of $77,747 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 York County and Montour County.