In 2012, voters in Elliott County, Kentucky, came close to breaking a streak that, at the time, had lasted 136 years. Elliott County was formed in 1869, and since its first presidential election, in 1872, it had voted for the Democratic nominee every time — the longest span of any U.S. county.

President Obama — like the previous Democratic candidates for president — won Elliott County in 2012, extending its streak. But the margin by which he won — 2.5 percentage points — made it, by far, the closest presidential election the county had ever seen. The next closest presidential election in Elliott County was 2008, when Obama won by 25 percentage points. and the first time the Democratic share of the vote fell below 50 percent. Obama got 1,186 votes (49.4 percent), and Mitt Romney got 1,126 (46.9 percent); third-party candidates accounted for the remainder.