Downtown is a Democratic stronghold. About 84% of voters here vote Democratic and 16% Republican. These figures are model estimates: Maine did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the numbers above come from demographic and health features rather than local ground truth.
About 56% of adults in Downtown typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Downtown, ~47% vote Democratic, ~9% Republican, and ~44% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Downtown compares
Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Downtown leans more Democratic than 6 of 13 neighbors.
Downtown runs about 61 points more Democratic than Maine as a whole.
Why Downtown leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per neighborhood to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Downtown, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many never-married adults vote Democratic. About 57% of adults in Downtown have never been married, modestly above similar-sized neighborhoods (around 44%).
Walkability and Democratic lean
Places with a highly walkable street grid tend to lean Democratic; Downtown, Portland, ME sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. A walkable street grid does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban a place is.
Why turnout in Downtown looks the way it does
Renters vote less often than owners. About 82% of households in Downtown rent, about 57 points above the U.S. average of 25%. High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, and Downtown sits in the top 15% on a violent-crime measure. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Neighborhoods
- Parkside, Portland, ME D+77
- West End, Portland, ME D+77
- East End, Portland, ME D+76
- Oakdale, Portland, ME D+78
- Rosemont, Portland, ME D+69
- Ocean Avenue, Portland, ME D+77
- Stanwood Park, South Portland, ME D+44
- East Deering, Portland, ME D+66
- Deering, Portland, ME D+70
- Broadview Park, South Portland, ME D+27
Neighborhoods with Similar Populations
- Parsons, Wilkes-Barre, PA R+9
- Columbia Center, Hammond, IN D+38
- Grafton Hill, Worcester, MA D+19
- Norwood, Birmingham, AL D+74
- Plaza-Shamrock, Charlotte, NC D+68
- Moncrief Park, Jacksonville, FL D+82
- Greendale Village, Needham, MA D+42
- Tice, Fort Myers, FL D+10
- Queens-Magnolia Terrace, Jackson, MS D+86
- Downtown, Kenosha, WI D+37
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Maine Secretary of State, Bureau of Corporations Elections and Commissions, 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. ME did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the figures here come from extrapolation across demographic, health, and land-use features rather than local ground truth. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.