Northwest, Kansas City, KS Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Northwest

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

Northwest is a Democratic stronghold. About 82% of voters here vote Democratic and 18% Republican.

 

About 38% of adults in Northwest typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Northwest, ~31% vote Democratic, ~7% Republican, and ~62% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Northwest compares

Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Northwest leans more Democratic than 8 of 9 neighbors.

Northwest runs about 80 points more Democratic than Kansas as a whole. Kansas leans Republican overall, while Northwest is one of the few Democratic-leaning pockets.

Politics vary noticeably by block within Northwest. The northwest side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+76) and the southwest side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+51), a spread of about 25 points.

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

Northwest votes against the grain of Kansas. Kansas leans Republican overall, while Northwest runs about 80 points more Democratic. Density combined with diversity predicts Democratic voting, and non-Hispanic white share in Northwest is about 11%, compared to around 33% in nearby neighborhoods.

Cancer-screening access and voter turnout

Places with low colon-cancer-screening access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Northwest, Kansas City, KS sits in the bottom quarter nationally on this measure. Cancer screening does not drive turnout; it reflects income, insurance, and healthcare access.

Why turnout in Northwest looks the way it does

Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Northwest 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 15 points below the Kansas average of 63%. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 31% of adults in Northwest report food insecurity, above 84% of neighborhoods. Low high-school completion lines up with lower turnout, and about 71% of adults in Northwest have completed high school, below 94% of neighborhoods. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

Sources and methodology

Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Kansas 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.