akashic
1876–2024
Clarke County, Virginia
Clarke County·Virginia

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

A small Shenandoah Valley county where rural patterns hold firm

18762024·38 elections
Clarke County, Virginia · Acroterion · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+17
in 2024
Archetype
Old Confederacy
since the recent cycles
Population
15,216
2024 ACS
Most similar
Livingston County
MI · similarity 0.99
7 precincts · 9,839 votes cast
Trump · R+17
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−16.7%
3,9935,6419,839
2020R
−13.6%
3,9205,1929,337
2016R
−19.6%
3,0514,6618,213
2012R
−13.6%
3,2394,2967,762
2008R
−5.2%
3,4573,8407,431
2004R
−16.0%
2,6993,7416,505
2000R
−13.6%
2,1662,8835,284
1996R
−6.5%
1,9062,2014,569
1992R
−3.9%
1,8111,9944,648
1988R
−25.5%
1,4782,5024,020
1984R
−34.9%
1,2152,5293,763
1980R
−22.0%
1,1561,8763,266
1976R
−5.9%
1,2761,4402,794
1972R
−41.9%
7151,8162,627
1968R
−13.6%
7681,1272,644
1964D
+3.1%
1,1361,0682,206
1960D
+6.9%
9238041,736
1956R
−3.7%
7257851,605
1952R
−6.1%
7168091,530
1948D
+8.5%
4823841,158
1944D
+32.4%
8164151,236
1940D
+51.4%
1,0433331,380
1936D
+65.0%
9401981,141
1932D
+73.7%
841124973
1928D
+49.8%
740248988
1924D
+78.4%
68776779
1920D
+63.5%
774154976
1916D
+84.5%
59049640
1912D
+85.2%
57639630
1908D
+73.6%
51774602
1904D
+70.5%
44467535
1900D
+41.6%
1,0554261,513
1896D
+38.3%
1,1144901,629
1892D
+47.6%
1,2084091,678
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%
Irish
1.5%
African American
5.0%
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
Methodist
13.8%
Catholic & Orthodox
9.4%
Other Christian
7.7%
Baptist
3.7%
Mainline Protestant
3.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
0.1%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Clarke County's 12,600 residents occupy the lower Shenandoah Valley, where low population density and agricultural land use correlate with presidential margins that have run consistently Republican by double digits across recent cycles.

The shift began with civil rights. 1968 marked the realignment in Clarke County, by a fourteen points margin. The Republican margin reached its widest at forty-two points in 1972. The 2024 margin was seventeen points.

The political shift has tracked, in Clarke County, the political shift of the South more broadly. A 84% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $117,111, and a 7% poverty rate describe the demographic context. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Livingston County and Lake County.