 About 36.90% of families and 40.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 51.70% of those under age 18 and 30.40% of those age 65 or over.While the state of Texas has become a stronghold of the Republican Party in the 21st century, Brooks County rests in the oldest extant Democratic stronghold in the state.It has never voted for a Republican presidential candidate since its creation in 1911.