Franklin County leans Republican by roughly 16 points: about 42% of voters vote Democratic and 58% Republican.
About 56% of adults in Franklin County typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Franklin County, ~24% vote Democratic, ~32% Republican, and ~44% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Franklin County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Franklin County leans more Republican than 1 of 5 neighbors.
Franklin County runs about 34 points more Republican than Washington as a whole. Washington leans Democratic overall, while Franklin County is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by city within Franklin County. The south side runs the most Democratic (D+11) and the east side runs the most Republican (R+72), a spread of about 83 points.
Why Franklin 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 Franklin County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Franklin County votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 76%, far above the Washington average of 41%). State and regional patterns outweigh the Democratic lean that density usually predicts here. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 81% of households in Franklin County are family households, in the top fraction of counties. Franklin County runs against the grain of Washington, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
High-school completion, developed land, and voter turnout
Places that combine low high-school-completion share and a heavily developed built environment tend to turn out at a lower rate, as Franklin County, WA does.
Why turnout in Franklin County looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Franklin County is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. The uninsured rate here is about 21%, about 12 points above the Washington average of 9%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Benton County, WA R+21
- Umatilla County, OR R+34
- Walla Walla County, WA R+7
- Adams County, WA R+31
- Morrow County, OR R+36
- Columbia County, WA R+51
- Grant County, WA R+34
- Yakima County, WA R+6
- Garfield County, WA R+58
- Gilliam County, OR R+48
Counties with Similar Populations
- Walton County, GA R+37
- Roanoke County, VA R+23
- Sherburne County, MN R+29
- Bastrop County, TX R+24
- Lancaster County, SC R+23
- Lafourche Parish, LA R+55
- Ashtabula County, OH R+32
- Marshall County, AL R+64
- Putnam County, NY R+13
- Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK R+9
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Washington 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.