Northwest, Portland, OR Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Northwest

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

Northwest is a Democratic stronghold. About 89% of voters here vote Democratic and 11% Republican.

 

About 72% of adults in Northwest typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Northwest, ~64% vote Democratic, ~8% Republican, and ~28% 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 23 of 42 neighbors.

Northwest runs about 63 points more Democratic than Oregon as a whole.

Politics vary noticeably by block within Northwest. The southwest side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+88) and the northeast side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+66), a spread of about 22 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.

Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 70% of adults in Northwest hold a bachelor's degree, about 42 points above the U.S. average of 28%. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 61% of adults in Northwest have never been married, above 93% of neighborhoods.

Population density and Democratic lean

Places with high population density tend to lean Democratic; Northwest, Portland, OR sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.

Why turnout in Northwest looks the way it does

Turnout in Northwest sits close to the national pattern. Routine healthcare access, homeownership, education, and food security all land near their national averages here. 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 Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division, 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.