Fort Sanders, Knoxville, TN Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Fort Sanders

By the BestNeighborhood data science team. Last updated May 2026.

Fort Sanders leans heavily Democratic by roughly 36 points: about 68% of voters vote Democratic and 32% Republican.

 

About 26% of adults in Fort Sanders typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Fort Sanders, ~17% vote Democratic, ~8% Republican, and ~75% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Fort Sanders compares

Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Fort Sanders leans more Democratic than 2 of 4 neighbors.

Fort Sanders runs about 66 points more Democratic than Tennessee as a whole. Tennessee leans Republican overall, while Fort Sanders is one of the few Democratic-leaning pockets.

Politics vary noticeably by block within Fort Sanders. The east side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+41) and the north side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+29), a spread of about 12 points.

Why Fort Sanders 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 Fort Sanders, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Dense areas vote Democratic. More than 99% of residents in Fort Sanders live in densely developed areas, about 64 points above the U.S. average of 36%. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 94% of adults in Fort Sanders have never been married, in the top fraction of neighborhoods. Fort Sanders runs against the grain of Tennessee, a Democratic-leaning pocket in a Republican-leaning state.

Preventive-care access and voter turnout

Places with limited routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Fort Sanders, Knoxville, TN sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure. Dental visits do not drive turnout; the rate reflects income, insurance, and healthcare access, which line up with who votes.

Why turnout in Fort Sanders looks the way it does

Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Fort Sanders is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. The dental-visit rate here is about 37%, about 19 points below the Tennessee average of 56%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 98% of households in Fort Sanders rent, compared to around 56% in nearby neighborhoods. High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, and Fort Sanders sits in the top 15% on a violent-crime measure. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

All Local Stats

Home Services

Sources and methodology

Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Tennessee Secretary of State, Division of 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.