Ola is a Republican stronghold. About 18% of voters here vote Democratic and 82% Republican.
About 67% of adults in Ola typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Ola, ~12% vote Democratic, ~55% Republican, and ~33% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Ola compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Ola leans more Republican than 5 of 10 neighbors.
Ola runs about 35 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.
Why Ola 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 Ola, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas with a high white share vote Republican. Ola sits in the bottom quarter on density and about 95% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 14 points above the South Dakota average of 81%.
Population density and Republican lean
Places with low population density tend to lean Republican; Ola, SD sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Ola looks the way it does
Turnout in Ola 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.
Nearby Cities
- Grandview, SD R+66
- Pukwana, SD R+60
- Chamberlain, SD R+43
- Kimball, SD R+65
- Oacoma, SD R+61
- Platte, SD R+66
- Lyonville, SD R+59
- Dixon, SD R+68
- Shelby, SD R+24
Cities with Similar Populations
- Union, IN R+60
- Union Level, VA R+32
- May Valley, CO R+67
- Malaga, NM R+67
- Brentford, SD R+51
- Walters, AR R+70
- Sybert, GA R+23
- Hendrysburg, OH R+63
- Indianola, IN R+58
- Bluff, MS R+89
All Local Stats
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from South Dakota 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.