akashic
1876–2024
Union County, South Carolina
Union County·South Carolina

Union County voted Democratic for a century. The shift began with civil rights.

A former textile hub where presidential margins have widened each cycle

18762024·38 elections
Union County, South Carolina · Jack Boucher · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+33
in 2024
Archetype
Old Confederacy
since the recent cycles
Population
26,885
2024 ACS
Most similar
Piscataquis County
ME · similarity 0.98
21 precincts · 12,289 votes cast
Trump · R+33
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−32.7%
4,0848,10212,289
2020R
−24.5%
4,9358,18313,257
2016R
−19.3%
4,7297,06112,092
2012R
−6.3%
5,7966,58412,541
2008R
−11.2%
5,9357,44913,551
2004R
−11.4%
5,2366,59211,934
2000R
−10.4%
4,6625,76810,589
1996D
+15.4%
5,4073,85510,055
1992R
−0.0%
4,6444,64710,680
1988R
−15.3%
4,4206,01910,465
1984R
−17.7%
4,4246,33110,796
1980D
+21.4%
6,2744,03510,456
1976D
+29.4%
6,3633,4639,863
1972R
−51.2%
2,6768,33711,065
1968R
−7.5%
2,2713,0119,872
1964D
+1.0%
3,8923,8157,707
1960D
+45.1%
5,2291,9807,209
1956D
+44.1%
3,7601,2525,688
1952D
+47.7%
5,9212,0948,015
1948D
+36.2%
1,283463,419
1944D
+95.4%
3,041333,152
1940D
+98.4%
3,662293,691
1936D
+99.7%
3,45803,467
1932D
+99.5%
3,13103,147
1928D
+94.1%
2,460742,535
1924D
+96.8%
1,862271,896
1920D
+98.5%
2,162162,178
1916D
+99.1%
1,47601,489
1912D
+95.5%
1,60901,685
1908D
+93.2%
1,389491,438
1904D
+93.0%
1,593581,651
1900D
+85.7%
1,182911,273
1896D
+79.3%
1,3791581,539
1892D
+56.1%
1,3393561,751
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%
Polish
0.5%
African American
22.2%
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
Baptist
53.2%
Methodist
15.6%
Other Christian
6.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.6%
Catholic & Orthodox
0.7%
Mainline Protestant
0.4%
Non-Christian
0.1%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 21.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Union County's mill towns anchored its economy for generations, but deindustrialization reshaped both its workforce and its politics. In 2024 the county delivered a 32-point Republican presidential margin, continuing a decade-long rightward drift.

The shift began with civil rights. 2000 marked the realignment in Union County, by a ten points margin. The Republican margin reached its widest at fifty-one points in 1972. The 2024 margin was thirty-three points.

The political shift has tracked, in Union County, the political shift of the South more broadly. A 65% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $41,621, and a 23% poverty rate describe the demographic context. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Piscataquis County and Jefferson County.