Lower East Side, Manhattan, NY Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Lower East Side

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

Lower East Side leans heavily Democratic by roughly 46 points: about 73% of voters vote Democratic and 27% Republican.

 

About 45% of adults in Lower East Side typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Lower East Side, ~33% vote Democratic, ~12% Republican, and ~55% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Lower East Side compares

Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Lower East Side leans more Democratic than 8 of 53 neighbors.

Lower East Side runs about 34 points more Democratic than New York as a whole.

Politics vary noticeably by block within Lower East Side. The north side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+59) and the southwest side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+29), a spread of about 31 points.

Why Lower East Side leans the way it does

This analysis examined 14,881 data points per neighborhood to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Lower East Side, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Density combined with diversity predicts Democratic voting. Non-Hispanic white share in Lower East Side is about 26%, about 47 points below the U.S. average of 72%. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 47% of adults in Lower East Side have never been married, above 78% of neighborhoods.

Paved land cover and Democratic lean

Places with extensive paved surfaces tend to lean Democratic; Lower East Side, Manhattan, NY sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. Paved ground does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban and built-up a place is.

Why turnout in Lower East Side looks the way it does

Renters vote less often than owners. About 84% of households in Lower East Side rent, about 59 points above the U.S. average of 25%. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 29% of adults in Lower East Side report food insecurity, above 82% of neighborhoods. 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 New York State Board of 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.