| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | R | 1,055 | 2,570 | 3,704 | |
| 2020 | R | 1,170 | 2,634 | 3,873 | |
| 2016 | R | 1,017 | 2,212 | 3,572 | |
| 2012 | R | 1,383 | 2,202 | 3,707 | |
| 2008 | R | 1,547 | 2,367 | 3,996 | |
| 2004 | R | 1,422 | 2,661 | 4,117 | |
| 2000 | R | 1,471 | 2,292 | 3,844 | |
| 1996 | R | 1,830 | 1,943 | 4,176 | |
| 1992 | R | 1,758 | 1,759 | 4,289 | |
| 1988 | R | 1,901 | 2,454 | 4,412 | |
| 1984 | R | 1,368 | 2,842 | 4,253 | |
| 1980 | R | 1,422 | 2,499 | 4,025 | |
| 1976 | D | 2,095 | 2,059 | 4,195 | |
| 1972 | R | 1,161 | 3,224 | 4,522 | |
| 1968 | R | 1,399 | 2,123 | 4,132 | |
| 1964 | D | 2,333 | 2,161 | 4,515 | |
| 1960 | R | 2,050 | 2,652 | 4,704 | |
| 1956 | R | 1,988 | 2,311 | 4,318 | |
| 1952 | R | 2,375 | 2,711 | 5,115 | |
| 1948 | D | 3,063 | 1,392 | 4,493 | |
| 1944 | D | 2,272 | 1,449 | 3,732 | |
| 1940 | D | 3,215 | 1,413 | 4,650 | |
| 1936 | D | 3,423 | 816 | 4,290 | |
| 1932 | D | 3,058 | 852 | 4,077 | |
| 1928 | R | 1,594 | 1,616 | 3,215 | |
| 1924 | D | 1,548 | 851 | 3,057 | |
| 1920 | D | 1,813 | 1,213 | 3,098 | |
| 1916 | D | 1,539 | 598 | 2,397 | |
| 1912 | D | 884 | 351 | 1,878 | |
| 1908 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1904 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1900 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1896 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1892 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1888 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1884 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1876 | — | — | — | — |
Quay County sits on New Mexico's eastern edge, where the High Plains economy and cultural ties to the Texas Panhandle have made it one of the state's most reliably Republican counties across nearly every recent election cycle.
The Democratic margin in Quay County peaked at sixty-one points in 1936. By 1980 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-one points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.
The economic context is the key. Quay County's median household income of $41,946 sits well below state and national norms, and 27% 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 Allen County and Carbon County.