Gaines, WV Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Gaines

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

Gaines is a Republican stronghold. About 16% of voters here vote Democratic and 84% Republican.

 

About 73% of adults in Gaines typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Gaines, ~12% vote Democratic, ~61% Republican, and ~27% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Gaines compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Gaines leans more Republican than 95 of 110 neighbors.

Gaines runs about 26 points more Republican than West Virginia as a whole.

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

Areas with a high white share and below-average college attainment vote Republican. In Gaines, more than 99% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 27 points above the U.S. average of 72%; about 11% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, about 6 points below the West Virginia average of 17%. Rural areas vote Republican, and Gaines sits in the bottom quarter on density (about 3%, below 91% of cities).

Walkability and Republican lean

Places with a low walkability score tend to lean Republican; Gaines, WV sits below the national average on this measure. A walkable street grid does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban a place is.

Why turnout in Gaines looks the way it does

Turnout in Gaines sits close to the national pattern. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

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Sources and methodology

Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from West Virginia 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.