akashic
1876–2024
Outline of Wilbarger County, Texas
Wilbarger County·Texas

For sixty-four years, Wilbarger County voted Democratic. Then it stopped.

A rural Red River county where ranching shapes the ballot

18762024·38 elections
TX
Latest
R+61
in 2024
Archetype
Realigner
since the recent cycles
Population
12,616
2024 ACS
Most similar
Coke County
TX · similarity 1.00
5 precincts · 4,467 votes cast
Trump · R+61
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−60.6%
8603,5664,467
2020R
−56.8%
9563,5244,524
2016R
−57.4%
8093,1664,105
2012R
−49.9%
9712,9563,980
2008R
−46.3%
1,1963,2834,509
2004R
−48.1%
1,2843,6854,990
2000R
−38.9%
1,3563,1384,577
1996R
−7.2%
1,7302,0374,268
1992R
−0.7%
1,9241,9595,340
1988R
−8.5%
2,2482,6694,929
1984R
−28.8%
2,0113,6445,673
1980R
−12.5%
2,3473,0315,463
1976D
+20.7%
3,2802,1455,476
1972R
−45.2%
1,1393,1834,519
1968D
+1.7%
1,9961,9095,198
1964D
+35.0%
3,2001,5394,742
1960R
−9.3%
2,3192,7965,129
1956D
+2.6%
2,3472,2304,587
1952R
−6.6%
2,6463,0195,666
1948D
+64.1%
2,9635293,800
1944D
+64.8%
3,3825174,419
1940D
+64.6%
3,2496973,952
1936D
+82.0%
3,2793163,613
1932D
+88.6%
3,3971993,609
1928R
−4.7%
1,4471,5903,040
1924D
+60.4%
1,2222691,578
1920D
+50.8%
1,1183351,542
1916D
+78.3%
1,242991,459
1912D
+72.9%
993441,301
1908
No data
1904
No data
1900
No data
1896
No data
1892
No data
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
1.2%
African American
4.7%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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
54.7%
Other Christian
11.2%
Methodist
6.1%
Catholic & Orthodox
5.5%
Mainline Protestant
5.4%
Pentecostal & Holiness
3.3%
Non-Christian
0.2%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 13.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Wilbarger County anchors the far north Texas plains around Vernon, where an agriculture-driven economy and sparse population have produced some of the state's most lopsided presidential margins over the past decade.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Wilbarger County peaked at eighty-nine points in 1932; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 1980 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of thirteen points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.

The economic and demographic context is severe. Wilbarger County's median household income of $54,102 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 18% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Coke County and Bosque County.