akashic
1876–2024
Wexford County, Michigan
Wexford County·Michigan

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

One of Michigan's most reliably red rural counties in recent cycles

18762024·38 elections
Wexford County, Michigan · Charles W. Chapman · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+35
in 2024
Archetype
Populist
since the recent cycles
Population
34,077
2024 ACS
Most similar
Kalkaska County
MI · similarity 1.00
40 precincts · 19,499 votes cast
Trump · R+35
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−34.6%
6,22412,96819,499
2020R
−34.3%
5,83812,10218,265
2016R
−36.2%
4,43610,00015,370
2012R
−15.2%
6,1848,45014,898
2008R
−4.2%
7,3798,04415,704
2004R
−19.3%
6,0348,96615,160
2000R
−14.6%
5,3267,21512,982
1996D
+5.4%
5,5104,86611,888
1992D
+1.6%
4,8944,69612,575
1988R
−16.9%
4,2876,04310,406
1984R
−36.2%
3,3987,27910,715
1980R
−16.6%
4,1736,02711,160
1976R
−11.2%
4,5195,67010,317
1972R
−25.6%
3,0485,2218,499
1968R
−19.8%
2,8324,3647,740
1964D
+18.8%
4,4143,0167,446
1960R
−30.3%
2,8075,2628,096
1956R
−31.9%
2,6045,0527,683
1952R
−39.2%
2,4075,5698,073
1948R
−17.8%
2,6353,8336,717
1944R
−23.8%
2,4894,0746,656
1940R
−18.8%
2,9474,3227,326
1936D
+8.7%
3,7713,1537,109
1932R
−2.6%
3,2513,4256,804
1928R
−69.6%
8534,8255,708
1924R
−65.8%
5923,9265,068
1920R
−49.5%
1,0953,4064,664
1916R
−15.4%
1,6832,3334,226
1912R
−6.4%
8171,0754,054
1908R
−51.2%
8312,8864,011
1904R
−58.8%
6903,0033,932
1900R
−40.5%
1,0142,5193,718
1896R
−19.4%
1,3592,0363,494
1892R
−8.3%
1,1561,3882,781
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
1.0%
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
Other Christian
14.0%
Mainline Protestant
5.7%
Pentecostal & Holiness
3.6%
Catholic & Orthodox
2.8%
Methodist
2.5%
Baptist
1.5%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 69.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Wexford sits in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula, where a sparse, predominantly white rural population has shifted decisively toward Republican presidential candidates, posting a 34-point margin in 2024 that outpaces most of the state.

The Democratic margin in Wexford County peaked at nineteen points in 1964. By 2000 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-five points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.

The economic context is the key. Wexford County's median household income of $61,085 sits well below state and national norms, and 14% 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 Kalkaska County and Montmorency County.