Maple Leaf, SD Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Maple Leaf

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

Maple Leaf is a Democratic stronghold. About 76% of voters here vote Democratic and 24% Republican.

 

About 42% of adults in Maple Leaf typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Maple Leaf, ~32% vote Democratic, ~10% Republican, and ~58% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Maple Leaf compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Maple Leaf leans more Democratic than 6 of 9 neighbors.

Maple Leaf runs about 81 points more Democratic than South Dakota as a whole. South Dakota leans Republican overall, while Maple Leaf is one of the few Democratic-leaning pockets.

Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Maple Leaf. The west side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+58) and the southeast side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+48), a spread of about 10 points.

Why Maple Leaf 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 Maple Leaf, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Maple Leaf votes against the grain of South Dakota. South Dakota leans Republican overall, while Maple Leaf runs about 81 points more Democratic. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 48% of adults in Maple Leaf have never been married, above 98% of cities.

Homeownership and voter turnout

Places with renter-heavy households tend to turn out at a lower rate; Maple Leaf, SD sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.

Why turnout in Maple Leaf looks the way it does

Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Maple Leaf is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. The dental-visit rate here is about 48%, about 17 points below the South Dakota average of 66%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 47% of households in Maple Leaf rent, about 22 points above the U.S. average of 25%. High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, and Maple Leaf sits in the top 15% on a violent-crime measure. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

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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.