Mountain Center leans Republican by roughly 20 points: about 40% of voters vote Democratic and 60% Republican.
About 48% of adults in Mountain Center typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Mountain Center, ~19% vote Democratic, ~29% Republican, and ~52% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Mountain Center compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Mountain Center leans more Republican than 31 of 37 neighbors.
Mountain Center runs about 39 points more Republican than California as a whole. California leans Democratic overall, while Mountain Center is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Mountain Center. The southwest side is the most split-leaning (R+25) and the south side is the least split-leaning (R+3), a spread of about 22 points.
Why Mountain Center 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 Mountain Center, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas vote Republican. About 2% of residents in Mountain Center live in densely developed areas, about 56 points below the California average of 58%. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 79% of households in Mountain Center are family households, above 86% of cities. Mountain Center runs against the grain of California, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
Population density and Republican lean
Places with low population density tend to lean Republican; Mountain Center, CA sits below the national average on this measure.
Why turnout in Mountain Center looks the way it does
Crowded housing lines up with lower turnout. About 5% of homes in Mountain Center have more than one occupant per room, above 87% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Idyllwild, CA R+18
- Thomas Mountain, CA R+17
- Pinyon Pines, CA R+2
- Fern Valley, CA D+9
- Anza, CA R+20
- Cahuilla, CA R+27
- Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA D+11
- Rancho Mirage, CA D+15
- Palm Desert, CA D+5
- Indian Wells, CA R+3
Cities with Similar Populations
- Gadsden, TN R+62
- Callicoon, NY R+8
- Tenants Harbor, ME D+17
- Stewart, TN R+67
- Eltopia, WA R+70
- Witt, IL R+54
- East Randolph, NY R+47
- Valier, MT R+50
- Scobey, MT R+64
- Kingston, VA R+50
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from California 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.