Gary leans Republican by roughly 24 points: about 38% of voters vote Democratic and 62% Republican.
About 67% of adults in Gary typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Gary, ~25% vote Democratic, ~41% Republican, and ~34% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Gary compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Gary leans more Republican than 3 of 19 neighbors.
Gary runs about 29 points more Republican than Minnesota as a whole. Minnesota leans Democratic overall, while Gary is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Why Gary 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 Gary, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas vote Republican. About 4% of residents in Gary live in densely developed areas, about 19 points below the Minnesota average of 23%. Gary runs against the grain of Minnesota, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
Park access and Republican lean
Places with low park coverage tend to lean Republican; Gary, MN sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure. Park access does not change how people vote; it tends to track denser, higher-income areas.
Why turnout in Gary looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Gary is in the top quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. The dental-visit rate here is about 64%, above 66% of cities. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 91% of households in Gary own their home, about 16 points above the U.S. average of 75%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Twin Valley, MN R+29
- Heiberg, MN R+29
- Rindal, MN R+28
- Fertile, MN R+35
- Ada, MN R+22
- Lockhart, MN R+38
- Bejou, MN R+26
- Syre, MN R+32
- Borup, MN R+29
Cities with Similar Populations
- Brownsville, VT D+34
- Knappa, OR R+26
- Lacrosse, WA R+72
- Longstreet, LA R+71
- Reids, LA R+88
- Black Oak, AR R+65
- Rodessa, LA R+49
- Ripley, CA R+10
- Attica, WI R+9
- Lanier, TX R+65
All Local Stats
Home Services
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Minnesota 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.