Kanawha Head is a Republican stronghold. About 16% of voters here vote Democratic and 84% Republican.
About 74% of adults in Kanawha Head typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Kanawha Head, ~12% vote Democratic, ~62% Republican, and ~26% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Kanawha Head compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Kanawha Head leans more Republican than 83 of 104 neighbors.
Kanawha Head runs about 26 points more Republican than West Virginia as a whole.
Why Kanawha Head 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 Kanawha Head, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with a high white share and below-average college attainment vote Republican. In Kanawha Head, more than 99% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 28 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 Kanawha Head sits in the bottom quarter on density (about 3%, below 92% of cities).
Population density and Republican lean
Places with low population density tend to lean Republican; Kanawha Head, WV sits in the bottom quarter nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Kanawha Head looks the way it does
Turnout in Kanawha Head sits close to the national pattern. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Duffy, WV R+66
- Gaines, WV R+68
- Wildcat, WV R+61
- Wilsontown, WV R+68
- Cleveland, WV R+67
- Rock Cave, WV R+68
- Ireland, WV R+63
- Hettie, WV R+57
Cities with Similar Populations
- Currentsville, KY R+53
- Salcedo, MO R+67
- Little America, IL R+47
- Linwood, GA R+72
- San Pedro, CO D+33
- Old Damascus, GA R+5
- Olney, KY R+68
- Cayutaville, NY R+16
- Niobe, ND R+69
- Lower San Francisco Plaza, NM R+22
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.