akashic
1876–2024
Lake County, Minnesota
Lake County·Minnesota

Lake County has voted Democratic for as long as anyone can remember.

A timber-and-iron county where margins have narrowed each cycle since 2008

18762024·38 elections
Lake County, Minnesota · Elkman · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
D+4
in 2024
Archetype
Democratic loyalist
since the recent cycles
Population
10,879
2024 ACS
Most similar
Deer Lodge County
MT · similarity 0.99
19 precincts · 6,953 votes cast
Harris · D+4
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024D
+3.9%
3,5343,2656,953
2020D
+3.5%
3,6473,3937,202
2016D
+2.2%
3,0772,9326,521
2012D
+21.0%
4,0432,6106,820
2008D
+22.1%
4,1742,6366,969
2004D
+20.4%
4,2122,7697,071
2000D
+17.0%
3,5792,4656,563
1996D
+28.3%
3,3881,6846,029
1992D
+30.7%
3,4151,4656,357
1988D
+35.5%
3,8871,8385,775
1984D
+37.8%
4,4682,0036,529
1980D
+20.9%
3,8642,4146,931
1976D
+25.2%
3,9732,3136,599
1972D
+16.8%
3,6402,5756,327
1968D
+49.5%
4,2661,3515,891
1964D
+59.1%
4,7041,2055,925
1960D
+26.1%
3,8882,2766,180
1956D
+19.9%
3,0792,0555,143
1952D
+31.8%
2,8141,4514,289
1948D
+43.7%
2,5559243,729
1944D
+49.7%
2,4017923,239
1940D
+48.7%
2,7509333,733
1936D
+61.9%
2,7176173,390
1932R
−7.7%
1,0591,2903,002
1928R
−50.5%
6182,0142,765
1924R
−44.4%
601,2512,683
1920R
−16.4%
5949902,419
1916D
+7.9%
5064011,327
1912D
+1.0%
1951821,266
1908R
−37.9%
1525841,140
1904R
−58.8%
77603894
1900R
−37.8%
278639954
1896R
−29.6%
320595929
1892D
+34.0%
290126483
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
Mainline Protestant
27.5%
Catholic & Orthodox
12.1%
Other Christian
2.5%
Methodist
2.3%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.5%
Baptist
1.4%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 52.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Lake County hugs Minnesota's North Shore and relies heavily on tourism and remnant mining employment. Its small, predominantly white rural electorate has drifted steadily rightward over the past decade while still landing just inside the Democratic column in 2024.

The Democratic margin in Lake County reached its widest at sixty-two points in 1936. The margin in 2024 was four points — still decisive.

Lake County's loyalty is rooted in its place. Median household income of $75,541, a 95% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 10,879 together describe a community whose political habits are deeply settled. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Deer Lodge County and Carlton County.