Carthage is a Republican stronghold. About 21% of voters here vote Democratic and 79% Republican.
About 72% of adults in Carthage typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Carthage, ~15% vote Democratic, ~57% Republican, and ~28% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Carthage compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Carthage leans more Republican than 13 of 20 neighbors.
Carthage runs about 28 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.
Why Carthage 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 Carthage, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas with a high white share vote Republican. Carthage sits in the bottom quarter on density and about 98% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 17 points above the South Dakota average of 81%.
Population density and Republican lean
Places with low population density tend to lean Republican; Carthage, SD sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Carthage looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Carthage 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 68%, about 8 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Cloverleaf Colony, SD R+53
- Roswell, SD R+54
- Fedora, SD R+55
- Vilas, SD R+53
- Manchester, SD R+53
- Iroquois, SD R+54
- Howard, SD R+49
- Pearl Creek Colony, SD R+59
- Artesian, SD R+62
- DeSmet, SD R+52
Cities with Similar Populations
- Choteau Junction, MT R+57
- Rachal, TX R+3
- Middletown, NC R+15
- Daggett, IL R+37
- Kingsmill, TX R+87
- Speed, IN R+41
- Locke Station, MS R+11
- Jo Jo, PA R+46
- Volt, MT R+25
- McCord Bend, MO R+57
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from South Dakota 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.