Kelso leans heavily Republican by roughly 38 points: about 31% of voters vote Democratic and 69% Republican.
About 72% of adults in Kelso typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Kelso, ~22% vote Democratic, ~50% Republican, and ~28% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Kelso compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Kelso leans more Republican than 9 of 28 neighbors.
Politically, Kelso sits close to the rest of North Dakota.
Why Kelso 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 Kelso, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Car-dependent areas vote Republican. About 94% of residents in Kelso drive to work alone, about 20 points above the U.S. average of 74%. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 85% of households in Kelso are family households, above 97% of cities.
Population density and Republican lean
Places with low population density tend to lean Republican; Kelso, ND sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Kelso looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Kelso 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 72%, about 12 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 97% of households in Kelso own their home, about 22 points above the U.S. average of 75%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and more than 99% of adults in Kelso have completed high school, in the top fraction of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Hillsboro, ND R+36
- Grandin, ND R+42
- Blanchard, ND R+39
- Taft, ND R+39
- Halstad, MN R+42
- Caledonia, ND R+39
- Cummings, ND R+39
- Hendrum, MN R+22
- Gardner, ND R+42
- Hunter, ND R+44
Cities with Similar Populations
- Zetto, GA D+9
- Douglass, SC D+38
- Yankeetown, TN R+72
- Johannesburg, CA R+36
- Yantisville, IL R+65
- Ophelia, VA R+36
- Arnold City, PA R+25
- Osborns Store, VA R+68
- Birds Landing, CA R+33
- Miner, MT Even
All Local Stats
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from North Dakota 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.