I wanted to see which counties not only have mostly voted GOP throughout their history, but also for the Whigs before 1856. All of these counties voted for Adams/Whig/Free Soil from 1824 to 1852. They also voted Republican for the most part between 1856 and 2020, minus four possible exceptions: 1912, 1932, 1936, and 1964.
Here is my current national Historically Republican Counties map:
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I chose counties that have always voted Republican besides potentially 1912, 1932, 1936, and 1964. I also allowed counties that voted for the Know Nothings in 1856 (ex: Blair, PA). I disqualified counties that had Dem + specific third-party majorities in certain elections (ex: Potter, PA in 1892). I also disqualified counties that were formed from other counties after 1856 (Those that came from state territories such as Missaukee, MI stayed).
The idea here is which counties have voted Republican the most consistently, not whether they do so by the largest margins. Each person would have their own rules to make such a list, so please do not think I consider this to be the definitive list. Every person would have differences in which counties should be included and not included. I am quite certain that I ponder this subject much since I have autism, and that I enjoy seeing patterns in voting results. I like finding out which regions have been with the GOP since the beginning, such as much of Western NY, or Southwest-Central Ohio.
I did not include Southern Counties. I realized that putting them on here would imply that they would have voted Republican in 1856 and in 1860 if the Party had been on the ballots there and the Know Nothings/Constitutional Union tickets were not. Putting some of the SD and KS counties on here was a tough decision due to similar reasons in 1892 and in 1912.
