Mahnomen County leans Republican by roughly 16 points: about 42% of voters vote Democratic and 58% Republican.
About 62% of adults in Mahnomen County typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Mahnomen County, ~26% vote Democratic, ~36% Republican, and ~38% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Mahnomen County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Mahnomen County leans more Republican than 2 of 8 neighbors.
Mahnomen County runs about 20 points more Republican than Minnesota as a whole. Minnesota leans Democratic overall, while Mahnomen County is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by city within Mahnomen County. The west side runs the most Democratic (Even) and the east side runs the most Republican (R+31), a spread of about 33 points.
Why Mahnomen County leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per county to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Mahnomen County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with low college attainment vote Republican. About 16% of adults in Mahnomen County hold a bachelor's degree, about 12 points below the Minnesota average of 28%. Mahnomen County runs against the grain of Minnesota, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
Population density, never-married share, and Republican lean
Places that combine low population density and a never-married-heavy adult population tend to lean Republican, as Mahnomen County, MN does.
Why turnout in Mahnomen County looks the way it does
High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, mostly because the housing stress common in those areas makes voting harder. Mahnomen County sits in the top 15% nationally on a violent-crime measure. See CrimeGrade for more details. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 26% of adults in Mahnomen County report food insecurity, above 91% of counties. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Clearwater County, MN R+46
- Norman County, MN R+27
- Becker County, MN R+33
- Red Lake County, MN R+47
- Hubbard County, MN R+30
- Polk County, MN R+31
- Beltrami County, MN R+4
- Clay County, MN R+3
- Pennington County, MN R+32
- Cass County, ND R+5
Counties with Similar Populations
- Haskell County, TX R+65
- Floyd County, TX R+50
- Stark County, IL R+47
- Morris County, KS R+52
- Hartley County, TX R+76
- Boone County, NE R+64
- Day County, SD R+42
- Cherry County, NE R+67
- Norton County, KS R+71
- McHenry County, ND R+61
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Minnesota 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.