| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | R | 978 | 4,108 | 5,120 | |
| 2020 | R | 1,056 | 3,966 | 5,080 | |
| 2016 | R | 1,016 | 3,542 | 4,761 | |
| 2012 | R | 1,733 | 2,835 | 4,680 | |
| 2008 | R | 2,171 | 2,850 | 5,115 | |
| 2004 | R | 2,043 | 2,791 | 4,866 | |
| 2000 | R | 1,961 | 2,172 | 4,238 | |
| 1996 | D | 1,858 | 1,491 | 3,912 | |
| 1992 | D | 1,929 | 1,259 | 4,058 | |
| 1988 | R | 1,677 | 2,043 | 3,727 | |
| 1984 | R | 1,212 | 2,190 | 3,402 | |
| 1980 | R | 1,248 | 1,893 | 3,213 | |
| 1976 | R | 1,398 | 1,403 | 2,822 | |
| 1972 | R | 622 | 1,851 | 2,473 | |
| 1968 | R | 537 | 1,484 | 2,230 | |
| 1964 | R | 854 | 1,157 | 2,011 | |
| 1960 | R | 615 | 1,885 | 2,500 | |
| 1956 | R | 695 | 1,661 | 2,356 | |
| 1952 | R | 622 | 2,054 | 2,686 | |
| 1948 | R | 733 | 1,728 | 2,462 | |
| 1944 | R | 560 | 2,171 | 2,734 | |
| 1940 | R | 787 | 2,496 | 3,291 | |
| 1936 | R | 910 | 2,329 | 3,247 | |
| 1932 | R | 878 | 1,586 | 2,479 | |
| 1928 | R | 399 | 2,233 | 2,637 | |
| 1924 | R | 722 | 1,895 | 2,680 | |
| 1920 | R | 532 | 2,131 | 2,713 | |
| 1916 | R | 552 | 1,144 | 1,767 | |
| 1912 | R | 421 | 735 | 1,604 | |
| 1908 | R | 561 | 1,182 | 1,804 | |
| 1904 | R | 531 | 1,245 | 1,868 | |
| 1900 | R | 777 | 1,270 | 2,115 | |
| 1896 | R | 1,045 | 1,194 | 2,247 | |
| 1892 | R | 423 | 927 | 1,860 | |
| 1888 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1884 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1876 | — | — | — | — |
Hickory County's R+61.1 margin in 2024 places it among the most Republican-leaning rural counties in the state, a pattern consistent with the broader depopulation and political realignment reshaping the Ozarks fringe over the past two decades.
The Democratic margin in Hickory County peaked at seventeen points in 1992. By 2000 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. Hickory County's median household income of $39,390 sits well below state and national norms, and 20% 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 Lincoln County and Lawrence County.