Clallam County was a bellwether, voting for the winning candidate in every presidential election from 1980 to 2020, holding the longest record for predicting official presidential election winners in the entire country.

[7] Located in Clallam County is Cape Alava, the westernmost point in both Washington and the contiguous United States, with a longitude of 124 degrees, 43 minutes and 59 seconds West (−124.733).

Near Cape Alava is Ozette, the westernmost town in the contiguous United States.

Clallam County also contains the west-northwesternmost, northwesternmost, and north-northwesternmost points in the contiguous United States.

17.2% were of German, 13.1% English, 9.3% Irish, 8.3% United States or American and 6.0% Norwegian ancestry.

Modern Clallam County is generally regarded as a competitive area politically.

In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama won the county with 50.5% of the vote, compared to 47.2% for candidate Republican John McCain.

Clallam County was a bellwether, holding the longest record, until 2024, for predicting official presidential election winners in the entire country.

[19][5] Clallam County also voted for Bob Ferguson in the 2024 Washington gubernatorial election for the first time since the 2000 Washington gubernatorial election, despite Ferguson underperforming Kamala Harris, indicating a potential leftward shift in the county.

[6] Democratic candidates are generally most successful in the county seat and largest city, Port Angeles, which casts a significant number of votes.

Otherwise, with the exception of a few locations (such as Blyn and Jamestown near Sequim), unincorporated Clallam County has a strong Republican lean.

The main storyline is set in Forks; however, the characters also visit neighboring Port Angeles.

The rural-comedy film series Ma and Pa Kettle (1949–1957) is set in a fictionalized Cape Flattery.