Mornngside is a Democratic stronghold. About 79% of voters here vote Democratic and 21% Republican.
About 40% of adults in Mornngside typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Mornngside, ~31% vote Democratic, ~8% Republican, and ~61% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Mornngside compares
Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Mornngside leans more Democratic than 3 of 4 neighbors.
Mornngside runs about 89 points more Democratic than Tennessee as a whole. Tennessee leans Republican overall, while Mornngside is one of the few Democratic-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by block within Mornngside. The northwest side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+75) and the southwest side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+39), a spread of about 36 points.
Why Mornngside 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 Mornngside, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Mornngside votes against the grain of Tennessee. Tennessee leans Republican overall, while Mornngside runs about 89 points more Democratic. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 51% of adults in Mornngside have never been married, above 83% of neighborhoods.
Walkability and Democratic lean
Places with a highly walkable street grid tend to lean Democratic; Mornngside, Knoxville, TN sits above the national average on this measure. A walkable street grid does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban a place is.
Why turnout in Mornngside looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Mornngside 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 37%, about 19 points below the Tennessee average of 56%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 67% of households in Mornngside rent, about 42 points above the U.S. average of 25%. High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, and Mornngside sits in the top 15% on a violent-crime measure. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Neighborhoods
- Park City, Knoxville, TN D+74
- South Knoxville, Knoxville, TN D+19
- Fort Sanders, Knoxville, TN D+36
- Oakwood, Knoxville, TN D+32
- Historic Montford, Asheville, NC D+72
- Oakley, Asheville, NC D+38
- Douglas, Elizabethton, TN R+46
- Northside Community, Chattanooga, TN D+17
- Highland Park, Chattanooga, TN D+42
- Martin Luther King, Chattanooga, TN D+36
Neighborhoods with Similar Populations
- Westwood, Orlando, FL D+15
- North Lauderdale Estates, North Lauderdale, FL D+59
- South Orange, Orlando, FL D+17
- Smith Dairy West, Lake Worth, FL D+3
- Capitol View, Nashville, TN D+65
- Youngsville, Manchester, NH Even
- Eastmorland, Madison, WI D+71
- Hawk's Landing, Verona, WI D+50
- Valverde, Denver, CO D+50
- Bayou Shore, Galveston, TX D+19
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Tennessee Secretary of State, Division 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.