Historical Election Results: 165 Years of U.S. Election Data

The Full Picture

Understanding American elections requires context — not just what happened in

2024, but how we got here. Akashic Edge contains 19.4 million election result

rows spanning 165 years, from the first post-Civil War election of 1868 to the

2024 Trump-Harris contest.

This isn't just presidential data. The database covers six office types:

President (1868-2024), U.S. Senate (1908-2024), Governor (1865-2025),

U.S. House (1976-2024), State Senate (1968-2023), and State House (1968-2023).

Reconstruction Era (1868-1876)

The earliest data in Akashic Edge comes from the elections of Reconstruction.

Ulysses S. Grant's 1868 victory, the first presidential election after the

Civil War, shows a political landscape unrecognizable to modern eyes:

Southern counties voting Republican (the party of Lincoln), and Northern

Democratic strongholds in New York City and Appalachia.

County-level data from this era reveals the geographic foundations of the

party system — foundations that would persist, transform, and eventually

invert over the next 156 years.

The New Deal Coalition (1932-1968)

Franklin Roosevelt's 1936 landslide created the most dominant electoral

coalition in American history. The county-level map shows Democratic

strength everywhere: the Solid South, northern cities, farming communities,

union counties, and Black urban neighborhoods all aligned.

Akashic Edge's historical data lets you trace exactly how this coalition

assembled, peaked, and fractured. County by county, you can watch the

New Deal coalition hold through Truman, crack under Eisenhower, reassemble

for JFK, and shatter after the Civil Rights Act.

Data Sources and Methodology

The dataset draws from peer-reviewed academic sources:

All margins use the same convention: (Democratic - Republican) / total votes x 100.

Full methodology documentation: akashicedge.com/methodology.

Explore the Data

Search any county, state, or congressional district on Akashic Edge to see its

full election history. Compare any two elections to see how places have changed.

Ask the Historian AI questions in plain English.

Start exploring at akashicedge.com. The free tier

provides state-level presidential data from 2004-present. Pro ($33/mo) unlocks

the full 165-year county-level dataset.