Editing Hamilton County, Tennessee (section)

==Politics==
{{PresHead|place=Hamilton County, Tennessee|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 10, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|97,195|74,437|2,806|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|92,108|75,522|3,483|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|78,733|55,316|8,359|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|79,933|58,836|2,972|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|81,702|64,246|2,086|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|78,547|57,302|1,087|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|66,605|51,708|2,066|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|55,205|48,008|7,618|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|53,476|46,770|14,839|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|68,111|40,990|608|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|69,626|41,449|547|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|57,575|41,913|2,604|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|47,969|45,348|1,104|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|58,469|20,657|3,668|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|29,302|23,441|32,080|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|40,200|38,546|0|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|39,703|30,482|1,092|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|34,429|28,287|2,114|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|29,681|23,832|317|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|10,434|16,968|2,787|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|10,379|17,527|267|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|9,771|17,083|68|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|6,917|16,568|104|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|7,090|11,469|378|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|13,244|7,190|103|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|8,421|7,511|848|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|10,793|9,910|334|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|4,697|5,828|234|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|1,493|4,394|2,735|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1908|Democratic|4,250|4,564|299|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|3,849|3,287|357|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|3,943|3,188|357|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|4,468|3,729|217|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|3,196|3,762|382|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1888|Republican|6,264|3,906|161|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1884|Republican|3,827|2,439|53|Tennessee}}
{{PresFoot|1880|Republican|2,460|1,595|117|Tennessee}}

Politically, Hamilton County is conservative. Along with the rest of [[East Tennessee]], it has been supportive of the Republican party since the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], even as the rest of the [[Solid South]] voted staunchly Democratic.<ref name="SwitzerlandAmerica">{{cite news | url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/the-switzerland-of-america/?_r=0 | title=The Switzerland of America | work=New York Times | date=June 7, 2011 | access-date=September 4, 2015 | author=Astor, Aaron}}</ref> However, unlike most counties in East Tennessee, Hamilton County is a strong two party county, with the Democratic candidate usually receiving at least 40% of the popular vote in presidential elections, and the city of Chattanooga tending to lean Democratic. In 2004, Republican [[George W. Bush|George Bush]] defeated Democrat [[John Kerry]] 57% to 41%.<ref>[http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2004&fips=47065&off=0&elect=0&f=0 Hamilton County – 2004], ''David Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections''. Retrieved: October 31, 2013.</ref> The last Democrat to win the county was [[Harry S. Truman]] in 1948, although [[George Wallace]] did win a plurality in 1968.<ref>The Political Graveyard; [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/TN/HA-votes.html Hamilton County, Tennessee]</ref>

In 2008, Republican [[John McCain]] defeated Democrat [[Barack Obama]] by a slightly smaller margin of 55% to 43%.<ref>[http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2008&fips=47065&off=0&elect=0&f=0 Hamilton County – 2008], ''David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections''. Retrieved: October 31, 2013.</ref> In 2012, Republican [[Mitt Romney]] defeated incumbent Obama by a margin of 56% to 42%.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hamilton County – 2012|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2012&fips=47065&off=0&elect=0&f=0|publisher=Dave Leip's Atlas of Presidential Elections|access-date=March 20, 2014}}</ref> Four years later in 2016, in businessman [[Donald Trump]]'s sweep of Appalachia, Hamilton County furnished the GOP with a mildly increased margin of 55.3% to 38.8% for Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2016&fips=47065&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=2016 Presidential General Election Results - Hamilton County, TN|website=David Leip|access-date=March 10, 2018}}</ref> In 2020, [[Joe Biden]] received the highest percentage of the popular vote of any Democratic presidential candidate since [[Jimmy Carter]] in [[1976 United States presidential election in Tennessee|1976]]. In 2024, the county backed Trump with 55.7% of the vote to 42.7% for [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Kamala Harris]].

=== Recent local elections ===

* [[2018 Hamilton County, Tennessee mayoral election]]
* [[2022 Hamilton County, Tennessee mayoral election]]
* [[Mayoral elections in Chattanooga, Tennessee]]