Lake Preston leans heavily Republican by roughly 48 points: about 26% of voters vote Democratic and 74% Republican.
About 59% of adults in Lake Preston typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Lake Preston, ~15% vote Democratic, ~43% Republican, and ~42% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Lake Preston compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Lake Preston leans more Republican than 2 of 25 neighbors.
Lake Preston runs about 20 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.
Why Lake Preston 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 Lake Preston, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas vote Republican. About 4% of residents in Lake Preston live in densely developed areas, about 5 points below the South Dakota average of 9%.
Population density and Republican lean
Places with low population density tend to lean Republican; Lake Preston, SD sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Lake Preston looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Lake Preston 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 70%, about 10 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Hetland, SD R+50
- Oldham, SD R+47
- DeSmet, SD R+52
- Erwin, SD R+53
- Arlington, SD R+49
- Badger, SD R+53
- Cloverleaf Colony, SD R+53
- Sinai, SD R+52
- Bryant, SD R+70
- Arlington Beach, SD R+51
Cities with Similar Populations
- Deport, TX R+77
- Sparkman, AR R+58
- Iron Mountain Lake, MO R+71
- Fly Creek, NY D+24
- Kimball, WV R+23
- Schmidt Corner, MI R+12
- Higginbotham, LA R+73
- West Carlisle, TX R+75
- Berryton, GA R+69
- Olney, MT R+29
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from South 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.