| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | R | 7,787 | 11,931 | 19,873 | |
| 2020 | R | 8,754 | 11,830 | 20,763 | |
| 2016 | R | 8,501 | 10,383 | 19,328 | |
| 2012 | D | 9,904 | 9,332 | 19,417 | |
| 2008 | D | 9,713 | 9,424 | 19,327 | |
| 2004 | D | 8,383 | 7,709 | 16,145 | |
| 2000 | R | 6,263 | 7,935 | 14,269 | |
| 1996 | D | 7,564 | 3,973 | 12,801 | |
| 1992 | D | 9,163 | 4,356 | 15,553 | |
| 1988 | D | 7,151 | 5,073 | 12,257 | |
| 1984 | D | 7,494 | 6,807 | 14,330 | |
| 1980 | D | 7,416 | 3,911 | 11,609 | |
| 1976 | D | 8,793 | 2,848 | 11,664 | |
| 1972 | R | 3,508 | 5,692 | 9,356 | |
| 1968 | D | 4,257 | 2,865 | 12,579 | |
| 1964 | D | 8,516 | 3,123 | 11,639 | |
| 1960 | D | 8,293 | 3,285 | 11,578 | |
| 1956 | D | 6,592 | 2,907 | 9,499 | |
| 1952 | D | 7,340 | 3,361 | 10,701 | |
| 1948 | D | 4,376 | 866 | 6,082 | |
| 1944 | D | 5,394 | 938 | 6,332 | |
| 1940 | D | 6,530 | 779 | 7,309 | |
| 1936 | D | 6,709 | 607 | 7,316 | |
| 1932 | D | 4,862 | 693 | 5,591 | |
| 1928 | D | 2,975 | 2,045 | 5,020 | |
| 1924 | D | 2,475 | 599 | 3,237 | |
| 1920 | D | 3,341 | 1,124 | 4,465 | |
| 1916 | D | 1,553 | 650 | 2,203 | |
| 1912 | D | 1,319 | 82 | 1,586 | |
| 1908 | D | 1,029 | 462 | 1,491 | |
| 1904 | D | 927 | 306 | 1,233 | |
| 1900 | D | 1,264 | 504 | 1,773 | |
| 1896 | R | 2,172 | 2,529 | 4,714 | |
| 1892 | D | 1,700 | 1,122 | 3,285 | |
| 1888 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1884 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1876 | — | — | — | — |
Richmond County sits at the edge of North Carolina's Sandhills region, where a manufacturing-dependent economy and a majority-minority population coexist with a voting pattern that has shifted sharply toward Republican presidential candidates over the past decade.
The county's recent history is a story of close margins. The Democratic margin reached eighty-three points in 1936; the Republican margin reached twenty-three points in 1972. Most other elections have been decided by single-digit points.
Richmond County's demographics — a population of 42,344, a 56% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $44,883 — situate the county close to national averages on several dimensions. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Gates County and Bladen County.