 The county was a competitive swing county for most of the period between Reconstruction and the end of the twentieth century, voting for the popular vote winner in every election except 1916, 1968 and 1976.Since 2000, like all of West Virginia, its conservative white voters have trended Republican due to a combination of declining unionization and differences with the Democratic Party’s liberal views on social issues.The trend has been less extreme than in most counties of the state.