Navajo leans heavily Democratic by roughly 50 points: about 75% of voters vote Democratic and 25% Republican.
About 52% of adults in Navajo typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Navajo, ~39% vote Democratic, ~13% Republican, and ~48% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Navajo compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Navajo leans more Democratic than 8 of 13 neighbors.
Navajo runs about 44 points more Democratic than New Mexico as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Navajo. The southwest side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+55) and the southeast side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+45), a spread of about 11 points.
Why Navajo 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 Navajo, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many never-married adults vote Democratic. About 62% of adults in Navajo have never been married, far above similar-sized cities (around 24%).
Cancer-screening access and voter turnout
Places with low colon-cancer-screening access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Navajo, 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 Navajo looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Navajo 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 41%, about 17 points below the New Mexico average of 58%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 35% of households in Navajo rent, compared to around 19% in nearby cities. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 47% of adults in Navajo report food insecurity, in the top fraction of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Tohatchi, NM D+51
- Sawmill, AZ D+61
- Fort Defiance, NM D+45
- Fort Defiance, AZ D+59
- White Clay, AZ D+60
- Mexican Springs, NM D+44
- Wheatfields, AZ D+61
- Toadlena, NM D+32
- Window Rock, NM D+44
- Sheep Springs, NM D+32
Cities with Similar Populations
- Hornsby, TN R+77
- Eden, ID R+71
- Jennings, OK R+67
- Lamont, FL R+9
- Macon, TN R+32
- Odin, MO R+73
- Bearsville, NY D+76
- Loma Rica, CA R+38
- Rupert, WV R+54
- Stoney Hill, SC R+59
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.