Brown County, TX

Brown County, Texas, is about as solidly conservative as it gets, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+22 — that’s a full 18 points more Republican than the state of Texas as a whole, which sits at R+4. This isn’t a recent shift; it’s been the county’s backbone for decades, and while the rest of Texas has seen some purple creeping in around the big cities, Brown County has held the line. The county seat, Brownwood, is the political anchor, consistently voting red by wide margins, but you’ll find the deepest conservative roots in the smaller towns like Early and Bangs, where local elections often turn on property rights and Second Amendment issues. There are no real blue strongholds here — even the precincts around Howard Payne University in Brownwood lean right, though they’re slightly less lopsided than the rural ones.

How it compares

When you stack Brown County against the state of Texas, the difference is stark. Texas as a whole has become a battleground, with places like Dallas, Houston, and Austin pulling the state’s politics toward progressive policies on everything from energy regulation to school curriculum. Brown County, by contrast, has stayed true to its roots. The R+22 PVI means that in a statewide race, a Republican candidate can expect to win Brown County by roughly 22 points more than the national average — and in practice, that often translates to 70-75% of the vote. The surrounding counties — Coleman, McCulloch, and Mills — are similarly red, so there’s no progressive island nearby to worry about. The only real variation is in Brownwood’s city limits, where a handful of precincts near the university might only go 60-40 Republican, but that’s still a solid red. The rural precincts, especially around Lake Brownwood and the farming communities to the south, are where you see the most reliable conservative turnout.

What this means for residents

For folks living here, the political climate means local government stays focused on what matters: keeping taxes low, protecting gun rights, and pushing back against state or federal overreach. You don’t see the kind of progressive experiments you’d find in Austin or Dallas — no talk of defunding the police, no zoning fights over “affordable housing” mandates, and no school board battles over critical race theory or gender ideology. The county commissioners and city councils in Brownwood and Early are overwhelmingly conservative, and they’ve kept the area’s character intact. That said, there’s a growing concern among longtime residents about the direction of the state. As Texas’s urban centers shift left, state-level policies — like the recent push for more state control over local land use or the expansion of renewable energy mandates — feel like a slow creep of government overreach into our way of life. The worry is that if the state legislature keeps tilting toward the cities, we’ll see more fights over property rights and personal freedoms that we’ve always taken for granted.

Culturally, Brown County is a place where people still wave the flag and mean it. The biggest policy distinction from the state as a whole is the county’s strong stance on Second Amendment sanctuary status — the sheriff’s office has publicly stated it won’t enforce any federal gun laws it deems unconstitutional, and that’s a point of pride. You’ll also notice a heavier emphasis on local control in education: the Brownwood ISD and Early ISD boards are stacked with conservatives who prioritize parental rights and traditional curriculum. If you’re looking for a place where the politics match the values of personal responsibility and limited government, Brown County is still that place — but keep an eye on Austin, because the fight to keep it that way is getting harder every year.