HarrisDemocratic34.9%1,723TrumpRepublican62.6%3,087KennedyIndependent1.2%57
R+27.7- Lead
- 1,364
- Total
- 4,933
- vs nation
- R+26.2
- Turnout
- 67.0%
Akashiccounty
Watonwan County, MN
Contests in this Place (88 available)
President34 · 1892–2024 · 3 mapped
▦ precinct · ▥ counties · ▢ no spatial detail
President margin by year
Place winner margin
Boundary by 2024 margin · Precinct returns · VEST · MIT Election Lab
The precinct map shows the 2024 presidential vote; the timeline scrubs the county’s overall result across 1892–2024.
President results by year
2024 turnout 67.0% of 7,421 citizens 18+
BidenDemocratic38.2%1,987TrumpRepublican59.7%3,103JorgensenLibertarian0.5%28
R+21.5- Lead
- 1,116
- Total
- 5,201
- vs nation
- R+25.9
- Turnout
- 70.9%
ClintonDemocratic36.3%1,814TrumpRepublican55.4%2,768JohnsonLibertarian3.1%156
R+19.1- Lead
- 954
- Total
- 4,998
- vs nation
- R+21.2
- Turnout
- 68.2%
ObamaDemocratic48.5%2,494RomneyRepublican48.9%2,517GRAYLibertarian1.0%50
R+0.4- Lead
- 23
- Total
- 5,144
- vs nation
- R+4.3
- Turnout
- —
ObamaDemocratic48.7%2,562McCainRepublican48.0%2,526OtherAll other candidates3.2%170
D+0.7- Lead
- 36
- Total
- 5,258
- vs nation
- R+6.6
- Turnout
- —
KerryDemocratic45.0%2,514BushRepublican53.2%2,970OtherAll other candidates1.8%99
R+8.2- Lead
- 456
- Total
- 5,583
- vs nation
- R+5.7
- Turnout
- —
GoreDemocratic44.0%2,258BushRepublican49.9%2,562NaderGreen4.1%212
R+5.9- Lead
- 304
- Total
- 5,134
- vs nation
- R+6.4
- Turnout
- —
ClintonDemocratic47.9%2,534DoleRepublican37.7%1,997PerotReform13.4%711
D+10.1- Lead
- 537
- Total
- 5,291
- vs nation
- D+1.6
- Turnout
- —
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+27.7MIT Election Lab
- Population
- 11,2052024 5-year
- Population density
- 26 / sq mi2024 5-year · TIGER/Line
- Land area
- 435 sq miTIGER/Line
- Median household income
- $71,6992024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 67.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 30.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+30.1 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+66.4 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Renville County, MN · twin score 86.0
Turnout and midterm durability
Participation measured against the same-year citizen voting-age population. Audited cycles count total general-election participants — ballots or participating voters, not presidential candidate votes. Cycles before 2016 predate that series and are derived from the certified presidential returns instead; they are marked everywhere they appear and are excluded from the figures below.
2004–20248 cycles · 5 audited
- 2024 turnout
- 67.0%4,969 participants ÷ 7,421 CVAP
- 2020→2022 drop-off
- +20.1 ptsPresidential-dependent
- Drop-off vs state
- +0.1 ptsPositive means a larger decline than the statewide pattern
- Mechanical 2026
- 46.9%–51.0%Recent-cycle and two-cycle persistence scenarios; not a forecast
Participation by cycle
Presidential Midterm Derived, pre-2016
Select a presidential cycle to show it on the map and results ledger above.
| Cycle | Participants | CVAP | Turnout | Series | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,969 | 7,421 ± 206 | 67.0% | Audited | A/A | |
| 2022Mid | 3,902 | 7,669 ± 186 | 50.9% | Audited | A/A |
| 5,233 | 7,377 ± 223 | 70.9% | Audited | A/A | |
| 2018Mid | 4,177 | 7,417 ± 184 | 56.3% | Audited | A/A |
| 5,077 | 7,448 ± 158 | 68.2% | Audited | A/A | |
| 5,144 | 7,418 | 69.3% | Derived | — | |
| 5,258 | 7,324 | 71.8% | Derived | — | |
| 5,583 | 7,230 extrapolated | 77.2% | Derived | — |
Sources and methods
Audited cycles (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024) count total general-election participants against the same-year CVAP special tabulation, each cell carrying its own numerator and denominator quality grade. Derived cycles (2004, 2008, 2012) come from the certified presidential returns on this page over the ACS 5-year CVAP series, so they measure presidential votes cast rather than ballots — a floor on participation. Where a derived cycle predates the ACS its denominator is extrapolated rather than read, and says so on its own line below. They are shown for the longer arc and are excluded from the drop-off, excess-drop-off, and 2026 scenario figures above.
- 2024: numerator source 158, denominator source 157; total voters participating; eavs-f1a-v1:observed:native; allocation share 0.0%; series 311/228.
- 2022: numerator source 158, denominator source 157; total voters participating; eavs-f1a-v1:observed:native; allocation share 0.0%; series 306/183.
- 2020: numerator source 158, denominator source 157; total voters participating; eavs-f1a-v1:observed:native; allocation share 0.0%; series 301/2.
- 2018: numerator source 158, denominator source 157; total voters participating; eavs-f1a-v1:observed:native; allocation share 0.0%; series 297/138.
- 2016: numerator source 158, denominator source 157; total voters participating; eavs-f1a-v1:observed:native; allocation share 0.0%; series 293/111.
- 2012 (derived): Certified presidential returns · ACS 5-year CVAP (B05003); presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count.
- 2008 (derived): Certified presidential returns · ACS 5-year CVAP (B05003); presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count.
- 2004 (derived): Certified presidential returns · extrapolated CVAP denominator; presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count; 2004 predates the ACS, so the denominator is a linear back-extrapolation from the 2008 and 2012 CVAP values, not a read figure.
Interactive election map
One map. Every available contest.
The map and local result cover Watonwan County only. The complete contest result is shown below for comparison.
Watonwan County result
0 precinct units · 0 candidate votes
Amy Klobuchar and Ben Schierer0—
Bill E Gates J.R. and Leah Harris0—
Kobey J Layne and Paul Ference0—
Mohammad Wazwaz and Murad Alshlool0—
Ole "Viking" Savior and Ashley "Skol" Johnson0—
Po Vang and Mark Frascone0—
Show all 7 candidates
Thomas Evenstad and Jason Haarsager0—
Governor contest result
Loading the complete contest result…
Explore precinct resultsSearch, sort, compare years, or export CSV · 42 precincts
Precinct data
Results by precinct
42 precincts · 4,933 votes
Precinct boundaries and identifiers are cycle-specific. This table does not join rows across years without a validated crosswalk.
| Precinct -MADELIAMADELIA | 387 | 552 | 24 | 963 | 40.2% | 57.3% | R+17.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precinct -ST JAMES CITY W-2ST JAMES CITY W-2 | 410 | 480 | 26 | 916 | 44.8% | 52.4% | R+7.6 |
| Precinct -ST JAMES CITY W-1ST JAMES CITY W-1 | 343 | 438 | 15 | 796 | 43.1% | 55.0% | R+11.9 |
| Precinct -LONG LAKE TWPLONG LAKE TWP | 69 | 159 | 1 | 229 | 30.1% | 69.4% | R+39.3 |
| Precinct -MADELIA TWPMADELIA TWP | 57 | 124 | 4 | 185 | 30.8% | 67.0% | R+36.2 |
| Precinct -ROSENDALE TWPROSENDALE TWP | 48 | 129 | 3 | 180 | 26.7% | 71.7% | R+45.0 |
| Precinct -BUTTERFIELDBUTTERFIELD | 47 | 114 | 7 | 168 | 28.0% | 67.9% | R+39.9 |
| Precinct -ST JAMES TWPST JAMES TWP | 44 | 116 | 8 | 168 | 26.2% | 69.0% | R+42.9 |
| Precinct -RIVERDALE TWPRIVERDALE TWP | 53 | 107 | 6 | 166 | 31.9% | 64.5% | R+32.5 |
| Precinct -NELSON TWPNELSON TWP | 41 | 115 | 3 | 159 | 25.8% | 72.3% | R+46.5 |
| Precinct -SOUTH BRANCH TWPSOUTH BRANCH TWP | 24 | 123 | 2 | 149 | 16.1% | 82.6% | R+66.4 |
| Precinct -ANTRIM TWPANTRIM TWP | 25 | 121 | 2 | 148 | 16.9% | 81.8% | R+64.9 |
| Precinct -BUTTERFIELD TWPBUTTERFIELD TWP | 19 | 105 | 4 | 128 | 14.8% | 82.0% | R+67.2 |
| Precinct -ODIN TWPODIN TWP | 33 | 77 | 6 | 116 | 28.4% | 66.4% | R+37.9 |
| Precinct -FIELDON TWPFIELDON TWP | 27 | 80 | 5 | 112 | 24.1% | 71.4% | R+47.3 |
| Precinct -ADRIAN TWPADRIAN TWP | 33 | 55 | 4 | 92 | 35.9% | 59.8% | R+23.9 |
| Precinct -LEWISVILLELEWISVILLE | 22 | 69 | 0 | 91 | 24.2% | 75.8% | R+51.6 |
| Precinct -ODINODIN | 15 | 42 | 1 | 58 | 25.9% | 72.4% | R+46.6 |
| Precinct -LA SALLELA SALLE | 12 | 32 | 0 | 44 | 27.3% | 72.7% | R+45.5 |
| Precinct -ORMSBYORMSBY | 7 | 33 | 1 | 41 | 17.1% | 80.5% | R+63.4 |
| Precinct -DARFURDARFUR | 7 | 16 | 1 | 24 | 29.2% | 66.7% | R+37.5 |
| Adrian Twp. Voting District27_271650005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Antrim Twp. Voting District27_271650010 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Butterfield Twp. Voting District27_271650020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Butterfield Voting District27_271650015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Darfur Voting District27_271650025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Fieldon Twp. Voting District27_271650030 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| La Salle Voting District27_271650035 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Lewisville Voting District27_271650040 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Long Lake Twp. Voting District27_271650045 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Madelia Twp. Voting District27_271650060 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Madelia Voting District27_271650050 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Nelson Twp. Voting District27_271650065 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Odin Twp. Voting District27_271650075 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Odin Voting District27_271650070 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Ormsby Voting District27_271650080 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Riverdale Twp. Voting District27_271650085 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| Rosendale Twp. Voting District27_271650090 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| South Branch Twp. Voting District27_271650135 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| St. James Twp. Voting District27_271650125 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| St. James W-1 Voting District27_271650095 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
| St. James W-2 Voting District27_271650110 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | No votes |
presidential history
Party record book
Watonwan County, MN · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
1892–2024 · 34 presidential cycles
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Franklin D. Roosevelt1936
63.5%
3,668 votes · D+30.1
Runner-up · Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932 · 57.7%
Republican
Warren G. Harding1920
81.4%
3,510 votes · R+66.4
Runner-up · Theodore Roosevelt, 1904 · 79.9%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Franklin D. Roosevelt1936
3,668votes
63.5% of the vote · D+30.1
Runner-up · Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964 · 3,615 votes
Republican
Dwight D. Eisenhower1952
4,549votes
72.0% of the vote · R+44.3
Runner-up · Richard Nixon, 1960 · 4,173 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
Franklin D. Roosevelt1936
+5.8pts D vs U.S.
Place D+30.1 · U.S. D+24.3
Runner-up · Harry S. Truman, 1948 · +3.6 pts
Republican
Theodore Roosevelt1904
+43.4pts R vs U.S.
Place R+63.1 · U.S. R+19.7
Runner-up · Warren G. Harding, 1920 · +40.2 pts
current representation
Current officeholders
RBill WeberState Senate · 21
RRich DraheimState Senate · 22
RMarj FogelmanState House · 21B
RBjorn OlsonState House · 22A
Seats representing Watonwan County, MN. A county elects none of these itself — they are the members for the 1 congressional, 2 state senate and 2 state house districts it falls inside, so parts of the county are represented by different members.
U.S. House elections · 2 House
Senate and governor results are in the Office selector at the top of this page.
U.S. House
Each row shows U.S. House votes counted inside this Place. “Vote lead” is the local lead here, not necessarily the winner of the full contest.
| Year | Vote lead | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | R | 31.6%1,530 | 68.4%3,305 | 4,835 |
| 2020 | R | 43.9%2,113 | 56.1%2,699 | 4,812 |
voter registration
Registered voters
Total registered voters, over time
Registered voters
| Year | Total registered |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 6,055 |
| 2018 | 5,786 |
| 2020 | 5,950 |
| 2022 | 5,659 |
| 2024 | 5,959 |
domestic migration
Who moves in and out
Net migration over time, and who arrivals are — where they came from and what those places vote
−32 net domestic migration · 2025
20112025
Net −1,571 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Arrivals reported $44,153 in average income, against $71,693 for residents who stayed — 38% lower. (IRS SOI, 2022–23)
The places arrivals came from lean R+1.2 on average — 26 points more Democratic-leaning than Watonwan County, MN itself (R+27.7).
Where arrivals came from lean of each source
- Blue Earth County, MN39R+1.2
Where departures went households, 2022–23
- Blue Earth County, MN53
- Martin County, MN26
- Cottonwood County, MN24
- Brown County, MN23
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 | −88 |
| 2012 | −102 |
| 2013 | −96 |
| 2014 | −131 |
| 2015 | −91 |
| 2016 | −110 |
| 2017 | −151 |
| 2018 | −17 |
| 2019 | −203 |
| 2021 | −102 |
| 2022 | −138 |
| 2023 | −191 |
| 2024 | −119 |
| 2025 | −32 |
Watonwan's economy centers on hog and corn production, and its population of roughly 12,000 has trended sharply toward Republican presidential candidates since 2012, reaching a 27-point margin in 2024.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 30.1 points in 1936 and a Republican high of 66.4 points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved 6.2 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 27.7 points.
A population of 11,205, a 68% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $71,699 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Renville County and Kandiyohi County.
Political twins — counties
The counties whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Renville County
Minnesota
86.0twin score
% unaffiliated12-yr trendNorwegian ancestry≠ % Latino
Kandiyohi County
Minnesota
84.9twin score
Swedish ancestry12-yr trendNorwegian ancestry≠ % Latino
Traverse County
Minnesota
81.9twin score
Swedish ancestry12-yr trend2008–2012 trajectory≠ % Latino
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 →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Watonwan County, Minnesota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/27165/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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Cities & towns in Watonwan County
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Frequently asked questions
How did Watonwan County, Minnesota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Watonwan County, Minnesota voted Republican by 27.7 points (R+27.7), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 4,933 votes cast, 1,723 went Democratic and 3,087 went Republican.
When did Watonwan County, Minnesota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Watonwan County, Minnesota voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Watonwan County, Minnesota?
Watonwan County, Minnesota has a population of 11,205 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Watonwan County, Minnesota?
Median household income in Watonwan County, Minnesota is $71,699 — below the national median of $80,734. The Minnesota state median is $89,062.
What is the political history of Watonwan County, Minnesota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Watonwan County, Minnesota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 26 went Republican.