akashic
1876–2024
Cheatham County, Tennessee
Cheatham County·Tennessee

Cheatham County changed its political identity.

A Nashville-adjacent county that votes as deep-red as rural Tennessee gets

18762024·38 elections
Cheatham County, Tennessee · GatewayPolitics · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+46
in 2024
Archetype
Realigner
since the recent cycles
Population
41,829
2024 ACS
Most similar
Putnam County
TN · similarity 1.00
8 precincts · 20,741 votes cast
Trump · R+46
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−45.9%
5,46414,98720,741
2020R
−44.0%
5,51414,43820,260
2016R
−46.6%
3,87811,29715,924
2012R
−36.9%
4,65910,26815,182
2008R
−31.7%
5,49810,70216,428
2004R
−23.9%
5,9189,67615,697
2000R
−2.3%
6,0626,35612,616
1996D
+6.0%
4,8834,2839,964
1992D
+13.5%
4,8173,4969,788
1988R
−14.7%
3,0674,1327,250
1984R
−15.4%
3,0074,1097,169
1980D
+23.8%
3,7712,2966,201
1976D
+50.3%
4,2251,3765,664
1972R
−24.6%
1,3212,2353,719
1968D
+2.8%
7786693,944
1964D
+54.8%
2,7508033,553
1960D
+46.0%
1,8836832,607
1956D
+64.0%
2,2974982,811
1952D
+60.7%
2,2225362,776
1948D
+82.3%
2,7311933,083
1944D
+73.1%
1,3982161,616
1940D
+70.7%
1,9323312,266
1936D
+75.8%
1,3521831,543
1932D
+76.2%
1,3701801,562
1928D
+30.3%
9134881,403
1924D
+64.4%
8681811,066
1920D
+36.3%
1,2195691,791
1916D
+43.4%
1,1174391,562
1912D
+50.0%
1,0963171,559
1908D
+39.2%
1,2065261,734
1904D
+41.1%
1,0154201,449
1900D
+45.3%
1,1904401,657
1896D
+41.8%
1,2374961,772
1892D
+31.7%
7322421,547
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%
African American
1.7%
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
15.1%
Other Christian
7.3%
Methodist
4.2%
Catholic & Orthodox
1.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
0.9%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 71.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Despite sitting on the western fringe of the Nashville metro, Cheatham County has resisted suburban political shifts, delivering lopsided Republican margins that rival the state's most rural counties rather than its urbanizing edges.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Cheatham County peaked at eighty-two points in 1948; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2000 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of two points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.

The economic and demographic context is severe. Cheatham County's median household income of $89,852 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Putnam County and Coffee County.