Unlike many other rural counties throughout Missouri, Ste. Genevieve was once a reliably Democratic stronghold in presidential elections. From 1948 to 2008, the county voted Democratic at every election except the national Republican landslides of 1952, 1956, 1972 and 1984. George W. Bush lost Ste. Genevieve County both times in 2000 and 2004; in the latter election, it was one of only four county-level jurisdictions (the independent city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and Jackson County) that voted for John Kerry. Unlike other rural counties throughout Missouri, Ste. Genevieve County was one of only nine counties in Missouri that favored Barack Obama over John McCain in 2008. The Democratic dominant streak in Ste. Genevieve County, however, was broken in 2012 when Mitt Romney carried it by three points over now-President Obama. This was the first time that a Republican presidential nominee had won Ste. Genevieve County since Ronald Reagan carried the county in his landslide reelection bid in 1984. In 2016, Republican Donald Trump, who received much more working class support than a typical Republican which could be seen across many working class and rural counties all across the country just like Ste. Genevieve county received 64% in the county, the most of any Presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and the most of any Republican candidate ever.