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

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

Guardian is a Republican stronghold. About 17% of voters here vote Democratic and 83% Republican.

 

About 58% of adults in Guardian typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Guardian, ~10% vote Democratic, ~48% Republican, and ~42% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Guardian compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Guardian leans more Republican than 50 of 93 neighbors.

Guardian runs about 24 points more Republican than West Virginia as a whole.

Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Guardian. The east side is the most Republican-leaning (R+67) and the northwest side is the least Republican-leaning (R+56), a spread of about 11 points.

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

Areas with a high white share and below-average college attainment vote Republican. In Guardian, about 96% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 24 points above the U.S. average of 72%; about 14% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, about 14 points below the U.S. average of 28%. Rural areas vote Republican, and Guardian sits in the bottom quarter on density (about 3%, below 94% of cities).

Population density and Republican lean

Places with low population density tend to lean Republican; Guardian, WV sits in the bottom quarter nationally on this measure.

Why turnout in Guardian looks the way it does

Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Guardian 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 41%, about 11 points below the West Virginia average of 52%. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 25% of adults in Guardian report food insecurity, above 91% of cities. Low high-school completion lines up with lower turnout, and about 82% of adults in Guardian have completed high school, below 87% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

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.