Chaffee County, Colorado
Precinct data
Results by precinct
26 precincts · 14,423 votes
Precinct boundaries and identifiers are cycle-specific. This table does not join rows across years without a validated crosswalk.
| Precinct -70413080057041308005 | 948 | 839 | 36 | 1,823 | 52.0% | 46.0% | D+6.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precinct -70413080027041308002 | 728 | 927 | 51 | 1,706 | 42.7% | 54.3% | R+11.7 |
| Precinct -70413080077041308007 | 1,036 | 419 | 28 | 1,483 | 69.9% | 28.3% | D+41.6 |
| Precinct -70413080087041308008 | 998 | 337 | 55 | 1,390 | 71.8% | 24.2% | D+47.6 |
| Precinct -70413080017041308001 | 686 | 653 | 38 | 1,377 | 49.8% | 47.4% | D+2.4 |
| Precinct -70413080097041308009 | 890 | 436 | 35 | 1,361 | 65.4% | 32.0% | D+33.4 |
| Precinct -70413080047041308004 | 471 | 615 | 26 | 1,112 | 42.4% | 55.3% | R+12.9 |
| Precinct -70460080067046008006 | 616 | 466 | 22 | 1,104 | 55.8% | 42.2% | D+13.6 |
| Precinct -70413080037041308003 | 560 | 438 | 47 | 1,045 | 53.6% | 41.9% | D+11.7 |
| Precinct -70413080107041308010 | 508 | 485 | 26 | 1,019 | 49.9% | 47.6% | D+2.3 |
| Precinct -70413080117041308011 | 551 | 419 | 33 | 1,003 | 54.9% | 41.8% | D+13.2 |
| Chaffee 108_0801508001 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 1008_0801508010 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 1108_0801508011 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 1208_0801508012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 1308_0801508013 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 1408_0801508014 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 1508_0801508015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 208_0801508002 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 308_0801508003 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 408_0801508004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 508_0801508005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 608_0801508006 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 708_0801508007 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 808_0801508008 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
| Chaffee 908_0801508009 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | Even |
Presidential margin, 1880–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1880 | +2.3% |
| 1884 | −7.3% |
| 1888 | −14.8% |
| 1892 | −40.1% |
| 1896 | +89.2% |
| 1900 | +28.5% |
| 1904 | −0.3% |
| 1908 | +13.8% |
| 1912 | +27.0% |
| 1916 | +47.9% |
| 1920 | −9.4% |
| 1924 | −23.5% |
| 1928 | −20.6% |
| 1932 | +36.7% |
| 1936 | +37.6% |
| 1940 | +5.3% |
| 1944 | +1.6% |
| 1948 | +16.5% |
| 1952 | −13.8% |
| 1956 | −27.3% |
| 1960 | −4.4% |
| 1964 | +25.0% |
| 1968 | −10.9% |
| 1972 | −35.1% |
| 1976 | −16.7% |
| 1980 | −31.8% |
| 1984 | −34.3% |
| 1988 | −9.3% |
| 1992 | −2.1% |
| 1996 | −4.4% |
| 2000 | −20.1% |
| 2004 | −12.6% |
| 2008 | −0.1% |
| 2012 | +0.2% |
| 2016 | −4.5% |
| 2020 | +6.8% |
| 2024 | +13.6% |
U.S. Senate
| Year | Won | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | D | 56.0%6,607 | 41.1%4,854 | 11,801 |
| 2020 | D | 51.2%6,948 | 46.7%6,344 | 13,578 |
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Chaffee County, CO registers Republican but votes Democratic — a 16-point gap between how voters register and how they vote, the signature of ancestral registration that trails realignment.
| Year | Total registered | Democratic | Republican | Unaffiliated | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 14,738 | 3,917 | 5,218 | 5,352 | 251 |
| 2018 | 15,600 | 3,969 | 5,073 | 6,321 | 237 |
| 2020 | 17,192 | 4,374 | 5,176 | 7,375 | 267 |
| 2022 | 18,260 | 4,437 | 4,956 | 8,576 | 291 |
| 2024 | 19,234 | 4,395 | 4,782 | 9,680 | 377 |
Who moves in and out
Net migration over time, and who arrivals are — where they came from and what those places vote
+55 net domestic migration · 2025
Net +4,180 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Arrivals reported $95,091 in average income, against $97,369 for residents who stayed — 2% lower. (IRS SOI, 2022–23)
The places arrivals came from lean D+18.3 on average — 4.7 points more Democratic-leaning than Chaffee County, CO itself (D+13.6).
Where arrivals came from lean of each source
- Jefferson County, CO80D+19.5
- Denver County, CO72D+56.1
- El Paso County, CO64R+9.8
- Fremont County, CO40R+38.4
- Boulder County, CO35D+55.7
- Summit County, CO34D+37.2
Where departures went households, 2022–23
- El Paso County, CO56
- Fremont County, CO49
- Denver County, CO45
- Jefferson County, CO29
- Adams County, CO21
- Pueblo County, CO20
Migration is one input to a place’s political change, not its cause — a shift can also come from residents changing their minds, generational turnover, or turnout. These figures describe the places people moved between; they do not measure how any mover voted.
| Year | Net domestic migration |
|---|---|
| 2011 | +211 |
| 2012 | +120 |
| 2013 | +269 |
| 2014 | +120 |
| 2015 | +205 |
| 2016 | +540 |
| 2017 | +591 |
| 2018 | +404 |
| 2019 | +351 |
| 2021 | +273 |
| 2022 | +494 |
| 2023 | +343 |
| 2024 | +204 |
| 2025 | +55 |
Chaffee County, anchored by Salida and Buena Vista along the Arkansas River, swung Democratic by nearly 14 points in 2024—an unusually strong margin for a rural Colorado county shaped by outdoor recreation and in-migration from urban Colorado.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 89.2 points in 1896 and a Republican high of 40.1 points in 1892. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved 6.7 points toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was 13.6 points.
A population of 20,178, a 84% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $84,132 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Ouray County and La Plata County.
The counties whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Browse places by community — income, education, race & ethnicity, language — all community cuts →
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Chaffee County, Colorado. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/08015/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.