Auto is a Republican stronghold. About 19% of voters here vote Democratic and 81% Republican.
About 67% of adults in Auto typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Auto, ~13% vote Democratic, ~54% Republican, and ~33% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Auto compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Auto leans more Republican than 53 of 83 neighbors.
Auto runs about 20 points more Republican than West Virginia as a whole.
Why Auto leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per city to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Auto, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with a high white share and below-average college attainment vote Republican. In Auto, about 99% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 26 points above the U.S. average of 72%; about 12% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, about 16 points below the U.S. average of 28%. Rural areas vote Republican, and Auto sits in the bottom quarter on density (about 5%, below 81% of cities).
Paved land cover and Republican lean
Places with little paved surface tend to lean Republican; Auto, WV sits in the bottom quarter nationally on this measure. Paved ground does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban and built-up a place is.
Why turnout in Auto looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Auto is in the top quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. The dental-visit rate here is about 58%, below 66% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Sunlight, WV R+61
- Spring Creek, WV R+56
- Williamsburg, WV R+59
- Falling Spring, WV R+61
- Friars Hill, WV R+56
- Esty, WV R+63
- Frankford, WV R+56
- Richland, WV R+61
- Cornstalk, WV R+57
- Maxwelton, WV R+52
Cities with Similar Populations
- Skyline, MN R+9
- Northfield, NH R+19
- Keisterville, PA R+37
- Futheyville, MS R+56
- Burns, KS R+62
- Abram, TX R+6
- Pinkerman, OH R+63
- Fay, OK R+72
- Kistler, WV R+61
- Fordyce, NE R+72
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from West Virginia Secretary of State, Elections, distributed by the Voting and Election Science Team. Demographic inputs come from the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 5-year estimates and the 2020 Decennial Census). Health and environmental inputs come from the CDC (PLACES and the Environmental Justice Index). Land cover comes from the USGS and EPA. Election-day and lead-up weather come from PRISM 4km daily grids and the NOAA Global Historical Climatology Network. Mail-voting and election-administration patterns come from the MIT Election Lab's Survey of the Performance of American Elections. Block-group crime detail comes from CrimeGrade. Internet data and modeling support provided by ISPreports.org.
Modeling and analysis by the BestNeighborhood data science team. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.