Carter County is a Republican stronghold. About 11% of voters here vote Democratic and 89% Republican.
About 75% of adults in Carter County typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Carter County, ~8% vote Democratic, ~67% Republican, and ~25% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Carter County compares
Carter County sits in a sparsely populated area with few comparable counties nearby.
Carter County runs about 58 points more Republican than Montana as a whole.
Why Carter County leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per county to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Carter County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas vote Republican. About 1% of residents in Carter County live in densely developed areas, about 12 points below the Montana average of 13%.
Paved land cover and Republican lean
Places with little paved surface tend to lean Republican; Carter County, MT sits in the bottom tenth 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 Carter County looks the way it does
High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 94% of adults in Carter County have completed high school, above 82% of counties. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Fallon County, MT R+71
- Harding County, SD R+88
- Powder River County, MT R+72
- Bowman County, ND R+65
- Slope County, ND R+74
- Custer County, MT R+43
- Butte County, SD R+62
- Prairie County, MT R+68
- Crook County, WY R+78
- Golden Valley County, ND R+69
Counties with Similar Populations
- Edwards County, TX R+42
- Briscoe County, TX R+71
- Piute County, UT R+78
- Throckmorton County, TX R+76
- Kiowa County, CO R+72
- Sully County, SD R+62
- Cottle County, TX R+57
- Jackson County, CO R+42
- Wheeler County, OR R+51
- Campbell County, SD R+66
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Montana 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.