In modern times, Lewis County is arguably the most conservative county in western Washington. It is significantly more Republican than adjacent counties, with the possible exception of Yakima County. Unlike much of western Washington, it has a strong tinge of social conservatism. In 2000 George W. Bush received over 60% of the county's vote. In 2008 John McCain defeated Barack Obama by over eighteen percent — his only victory in a county west of the Cascades. McCain lost all the neighboring counties except Yakima. Since Washington's statehood in 1889 only three Democratic presidential candidates have carried the county – William Jennings Bryan in 1896, Franklin Delano Roosevelt three times in 1932, 1936 and 1940, plus Lyndon Johnson in 1964.