Garden Prairie leans heavily Republican by roughly 34 points: about 33% of voters vote Democratic and 67% Republican.
About 77% of adults in Garden Prairie typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Garden Prairie, ~25% vote Democratic, ~52% Republican, and ~23% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Garden Prairie compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Garden Prairie leans more Republican than 62 of 74 neighbors.
Garden Prairie runs about 45 points more Republican than Illinois as a whole. Illinois leans Democratic overall, while Garden Prairie is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Garden Prairie. The southwest side is the most Republican-leaning (R+38) and the west side is the least Republican-leaning (R+26), a spread of about 13 points.
Why Garden Prairie 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 Garden Prairie, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Car-dependent areas vote Republican. About 93% of residents in Garden Prairie drive to work alone, about 19 points above the U.S. average of 74%. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 75% of households in Garden Prairie are family households, above 76% of cities. Garden Prairie runs against the grain of Illinois, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
Renting and voter turnout
Places with homeowner-heavy households tend to turn out at a higher rate; Garden Prairie, IL sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Garden Prairie looks the way it does
Homeowners vote more often than renters. About 95% of households in Garden Prairie own their home, about 15 points above the Illinois average of 80%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Belvidere, IL R+9
- Marengo, IL R+23
- Timberlane, IL R+25
- Poplar Grove, IL R+19
- Irene, IL R+37
- Capron, IL R+33
- Kingston, IL R+33
- Union, IL R+22
- New Lebanon, IL R+31
- Franklinville, IL R+17
Cities with Similar Populations
- Faucett, MO R+54
- Keith, TX R+61
- North Middletown, KY R+54
- Shortville, WI R+38
- Smyrna, NY R+51
- Ralston, WY R+73
- Chevy Chase View, MD D+54
- Deerfield, MA D+28
- Keeling, VA R+51
- Lilliwaup, WA R+4
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Illinois State Board 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.