akashic
1876–2024
Jefferson County, Washington
Jefferson County·Washington

Jefferson County was solidly one party for decades. In the last twenty years, it flipped.

One of Washington's most lopsided presidential counties by margin

18762024·38 elections
Jefferson County, Washington · Steven Pavlov · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
D+45
in 2024
Archetype
Populist
since the recent cycles
Population
33,577
2024 ACS
Most similar
Tompkins County
NY · similarity 1.00
37 precincts · 24,698 votes cast
Harris · D+45
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024D
+45.1%
17,4596,32424,698
2020D
+41.4%
17,2046,93124,792
2016D
+31.7%
12,6566,03720,879
2012D
+31.7%
12,7396,40519,961
2008D
+34.6%
13,2526,33019,991
2004D
+26.6%
11,6106,65018,650
2000D
+13.8%
8,2816,09515,833
1996D
+18.0%
7,1454,60714,119
1992D
+20.7%
6,1483,46712,942
1988D
+11.3%
5,2704,1849,636
1984D
+0.6%
4,6024,5439,334
1980R
−4.5%
3,2793,6458,170
1976D
+2.0%
2,9132,7946,092
1972R
−13.0%
2,0962,7705,179
1968D
+9.4%
2,2511,8274,505
1964D
+35.5%
3,0121,4324,456
1960D
+2.2%
2,1972,1034,307
1956R
−13.6%
1,7502,3004,057
1952R
−9.8%
1,9332,3554,305
1948D
+8.2%
1,9111,6103,676
1944D
+12.7%
1,8291,4153,262
1940D
+14.9%
2,0831,5403,655
1936D
+35.5%
2,2791,0633,425
1932D
+31.9%
1,9949523,267
1928R
−28.7%
8101,4722,306
1924R
−43.7%
1439131,763
1920R
−44.0%
3221,1281,832
1916R
−11.0%
8611,0942,112
1912D
+0.3%
6426362,326
1908R
−32.5%
4178591,360
1904R
−52.0%
2839621,307
1900R
−26.4%
3926841,108
1896R
−13.4%
5367041,250
1892D
+4.0%
6656101,391
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
1.0%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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
Catholic & Orthodox
4.6%
Other Christian
4.0%
Non-Christian
3.5%
Baptist
3.0%
Mainline Protestant
2.7%
Methodist
1.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.4%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 79.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Jefferson County's small, highly educated coastal population on the Olympic Peninsula consistently produces some of the widest Democratic presidential margins in Washington state, reaching D+45 in 2024.

The Democratic margin in Jefferson County peaked at forty-five points in 2024. By 1984 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-five points, the most Democratic-leaning result in the county's modern history.

The economic context is the key. Jefferson County's median household income of $74,048 sits well below state and national norms, and 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Tompkins County and San Juan County.