Editing Edwards County, Illinois (section)

==Politics==
Edwards County is one of the most consistently Republican counties in the nation. It has voted for the Republican candidate in all Presidential elections from 1856 to present, except in 1912 when the party was divided and Theodore Roosevelt won the county as the “Bull Moose” Progressive candidate.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[The Political Graveyard]] |url=https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/IL/EW-votes.html |title=Edwards County, Illinois
|first=Lawrence |last=Kestenbaum |author-link=Lawrence Kestenbaum |website=politicalgraveyard.com |access-date=June 15, 2022}}
</ref> In the last five Presidential elections no Democratic candidate has reached 34 percent of the county's vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html?scp=1&sq=%22election+map&st=cse|title=President Map - Election Results 2008 - The New York Times|website=elections.nytimes.com}}</ref>  Edwards County also holds the distinction of having the lowest percentage of any Illinois county of votes for governor [[Pat Quinn (politician)|Pat Quinn]], a Democrat, in his failed 2014 reelection bid. Quinn lost 101 of the 102 counties in Illinois, capturing only 13.7% of the vote in Edwards County.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wjbdradio.com/LocalNews/Quinn-Loses-Hardest-in-Edwards-County#.VF-66764kfE|title=WJBD - Local News - Quinn Loses Hardest in Edwards County<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=wjbdradio.com}}</ref> [[Hillary Clinton]] fared even worse in 2016 with only 13.1 percent of the county's ballots. The last Democrat to win the county was [[Andrew Jackson]] in 1832.

{{PresHead|place=Edwards County, Illinois|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|first=David|last=Leip|website=uselectionatlas.org}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|2,794|457|44|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|2,833|488|47|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|2,778|434|112|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|2,405|754|69|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|2,137|1,140|85|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|2,412|930|22|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|2,212|978|70|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|1,613|1,089|401|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|1,601|1,299|652|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|2,212|1,218|20|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|2,778|1,057|10|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|2,556|1,041|154|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|2,379|1,648|39|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|3,017|1,055|9|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|2,633|1,095|407|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|2,262|1,991|0|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|3,291|1,446|8|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|3,339|1,210|1|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|3,502|1,162|5|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|2,491|1,206|73|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|3,016|1,197|37|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|3,361|1,770|51|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1936|Republican|2,813|2,211|76|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1932|Republican|2,203|1,956|57|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|2,861|950|15|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|2,750|1,047|155|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|3,002|742|46|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|2,885|1,389|138|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1912|Progressive|817|650|936|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|1,614|747|142|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|1,610|595|188|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|1,577|823|57|Illinois}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|1,572|852|34|Illinois}}
{{PresFoot|1892|Republican|1,350|677|130|Illinois}}

In other positions the county has been not been consistently Republican for as long, but nevertheless has been so for many years. The last Democratic Senatorial candidate it backed was [[Alan J. Dixon]] in 1986<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/comparemaps.php?year=2010&fips=17&f=1&off=3&elect=0&class=3|title=David Leip's Election Atlas (Maps for Illinois Senate by election)|website=uselectionatlas.org}}</ref> and the last Democratic gubernatorial candidate it supported was [[Glenn Poshard]], who carried all of [[Southern Illinois]] in his failed 1998 bid.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/comparemaps.php?year=2010&fips=17&f=1&off=5&elect=0|title=David Leip's Election Atlas (Maps for Illinois Governor by election)|website=uselectionatlas.org}}</ref> Edwards County lies in [[Illinois's 15th congressional district]], which has [[Cook Partisan Voting Index]] of R+21 and has been represented by Republican [[Mike Bost|Mike Bost]] since 2023.

Edwards County is a [[dry county]], with multiple referendums to allow alcohol sales failing in the mid-1990s. The portion of Grayville, Illinois that lies within Edwards County does allow alcohol sales per Grayville city ordinance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.il.us/lcc/localsurveysheet2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323080044/http://www.state.il.us/lcc/LocalSurveySheet2.pdf |archive-date=March 23, 2013 |url-status=live|title=Illinois Liquor Control Commission Home|website=www.state.il.us}}</ref>