Mescalero leans heavily Democratic by roughly 42 points: about 71% of voters vote Democratic and 29% Republican.
About 51% of adults in Mescalero typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Mescalero, ~36% vote Democratic, ~15% Republican, and ~49% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Mescalero compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Mescalero is the most Democratic-leaning.
Mescalero runs about 36 points more Democratic than New Mexico as a whole.
Why Mescalero 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 Mescalero, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many never-married adults vote Democratic. About 55% of adults in Mescalero have never been married, well above similar-sized cities (around 30%).
Cancer-screening access and voter turnout
Places with low colon-cancer-screening access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Mescalero, NM sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure. Cancer screening does not drive turnout; it reflects income, insurance, and healthcare access.
Why turnout in Mescalero looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Mescalero 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 46%, about 11 points below the New Mexico average of 58%. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 42% of adults in Mescalero report food insecurity, in the top fraction of cities. High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, and Mescalero sits in the top 15% on a violent-crime measure. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Bent, NM R+27
- Ponderosa Heights, NM D+28
- Ruidoso, NM R+16
- Ruidoso Downs, NM R+24
- Mountain Park, NM R+31
- Sierra Vista, NM R+22
- Cloudcroft, NM R+31
- Alto, NM R+26
- Tularosa, NM R+28
- High Rolls Mountain Park, NM R+44
Cities with Similar Populations
- Lovell, WY R+70
- Watkins Glen, NY R+20
- Mount Oliver, PA D+41
- Carlisle, IN R+22
- Climax, NC R+56
- Curtice, OH R+35
- East Rockingham, NC R+21
- Rosepine, LA R+75
- Murchison, TX R+75
- Okemah, OK R+51
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from New Mexico Secretary of State, Bureau 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.