Editing Wilkes County, North Carolina (section)

==Government and politics==
{{PresHead|place=Wilkes County, North Carolina|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 17, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|28,812|7,194|314|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|27,592|7,511|363|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|23,752|6,638|906|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|20,515|8,148|482|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|20,288|8,934|502|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|19,197|7,862|95|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|16,826|7,226|271|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|12,395|6,793|2,040|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|12,547|7,991|3,330|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|15,231|7,230|53|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|18,670|6,852|42|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|14,462|8,184|403|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|11,768|10,176|80|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|13,015|4,634|255|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|11,195|4,497|2,876|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|11,014|9,176|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|13,016|7,986|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|11,544|5,870|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|11,446|7,143|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|8,234|5,784|382|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|9,121|5,587|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|8,446|7,299|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1936|Republican|8,358|6,506|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1932|Republican|6,522|5,598|39|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|7,808|2,802|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|6,131|3,586|11|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|6,451|2,843|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|3,470|1,632|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1912|Progressive|331|1,636|2,571|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|3,382|1,559|8|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|2,470|1,318|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|2,840|1,704|2|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|2,835|1,801|6|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1892|Republican|1,895|1,770|145|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1888|Republican|2,292|1,691|16|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1884|Republican|2,028|1,341|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresFoot|1880|Republican|1,583|1,510|0|North Carolina}}

Since the [[American Civil War]], Wilkes County has been heavily Republican, owing to its strong [[Southern Unionist|Unionist]] sentiment during the war,<ref>Nash, Steven E.; ''Reconstruction's Ragged Edge: The Politics of Postwar Life in the Southern Mountains'' pp. 22, 64 {{ISBN|146962625X}}</ref> which partly stemmed from its rocky and infertile soil unsuited for plantation farming.<ref>Auman, William T.; ''Civil War in the North Carolina Quaker Belt: The Confederate Campaign Against Peace Agitators, Deserters and Draft Dodgers'', p. 30 {{ISBN|078647663X}}</ref> The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry Wilkes County was [[Andrew Jackson]] in 1832. The [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] dominated politics in the county from 1836 until its dissolution in the middle 1850s. Since the formation of the Republican Party in 1854, Wilkes County has voted Republican in every election bar three: in 1856 it voted for [[Know-Nothing party|"Know-Nothing"]] [[Millard Fillmore]], in 1860 for [[Constitutional Union Party (United States)|Constitutional Unionist]] [[John Bell (Tennessee politician)|John Bell]], and in 1912 for Progressive [[Theodore Roosevelt]].

The primary governing body of Wilkes County follows a [[council–manager government]] format with a five-member [[board of commissioners]] and [[County executive|county manager]]. The current county manager is John Yates.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Administration |url=https://wilkescounty.net/149/Administration |access-date=April 14, 2024 |website=wilkescounty.net}}</ref> As of 2024, the current commissioners are: Casey Joe Johnson (chairman), Bill Sexton (vice chairman), Giddeon Keith Elmore, Stoney Greene, and Greg Minton.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Board of Commissioners |url=https://wilkescounty.net/221/Board-of-Commissioners |access-date=April 14, 2024 |website=wilkescounty.net}}</ref>

Wilkes County is a member of the regional [[Councils of governments in North Carolina|High Country Council of Governments]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Membership|url=http://www.regiond.org/membership.html|work=RegionD.org|publisher=High Country Council of Governments|access-date=October 27, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927095920/http://www.regiond.org/membership.html|archive-date=September 27, 2011}}</ref>

In the [[North Carolina General Assembly]], Wilkes is represented by [[Eddie Settle]] in [[North Carolina Senate]]'s [[North Carolina's 36th Senate district|36th district]], and by [[Sarah Stevens (politician)|Sarah Stevens]] in the [[North Carolina's 90th House district|90th district]] and [[Jeffrey Elmore|Jeffery Elmore]] in the [[North Carolina's 94th House district|94th district]] of the [[North Carolina House of Representatives]].<ref>{{cite web |title=DRA 2020 |url=https://davesredistricting.org/maps |access-date=May 2, 2022 |website=Daves Redistricting}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=NC House District 90 - North Carolina General Assembly |url=https://ncleg.gov/DistrictMap/H/592 |access-date=May 2, 2022 |website=ncleg.gov}}</ref>

In the [[United States Senate|US Senate]], the county is represented by [[Ted Budd]] and [[Thom Tillis]]. Wilkes is entirely in [[North Carolina's 5th congressional district]] of the [[United States House of Representatives]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Rucho-Lewis Congress 3 (adopted redistricting plan)|url=http://www.ncleg.net/gis/randr07/District_Plans/PlanPage_DB_2011.asp?Plan=Rucho-Lewis_Congress_3&Body=Congress|work=NCGA website|publisher=NC General Assembly|access-date=October 27, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102063230/http://www.ncleg.net/gis/randr07/District_Plans/PlanPage_DB_2011.asp?Plan=Rucho-Lewis_Congress_3&Body=Congress|archive-date=November 2, 2011}}</ref> represented by [[Virginia Foxx]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Directory of Representatives|url=http://www.house.gov/representatives/#state_nc|work=U.S. House website|publisher=United States House of Representatives|access-date=October 27, 2011}}</ref>

Wilkes County's economic struggles since 2000, and the county's strong support for [[Donald Trump]] in the 2016 presidential election and after, has led to Wilkes being prominently featured in numerous stories and articles by national news media outlets such as ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[NBC News]]'', ''[[PBS NewsHour]]'', ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'', and ''[[MSNBC]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fausset |first1=Richard |title=Feeling Let Down and Left Behind, With Little Hope for Better |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/us/feeling-let-down-and-left-behind-with-little-hope-for-better.html |access-date=April 24, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=May 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160525100031/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/us/feeling-let-down-and-left-behind-with-little-hope-for-better.html |archive-date=May 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/two-counties-defining-battle-lines-gop-s-civil-war-n812516|title=Two counties, two factions on the front lines of the GOP civil war|work=NBC News|access-date=March 18, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-11-10/a-lesson-from-donald-trumps-america|title=Working-class voters listened to Trump because Clinton and the Democratic Party didn't speak to them|last=Cooper|first=Michael Jr.|date=November 10, 2016|work=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=March 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111005829/http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-11-10/a-lesson-from-donald-trumps-america|archive-date=November 11, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/rural-north-carolina-voters-say-struggles-ignored|title=What people living in poverty want the presidential candidates to know|website=PBS NewsHour|date=October 20, 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=March 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/north-carolina-town-weighs-its-2016-options-784187459630|title=North Carolina town weighs its 2016 options|work=NBC News|access-date=March 18, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2024, Wilkes County failed to give at least 20% to the Democratic candidate for the first time in history.