Ponemah is a Democratic stronghold. About 86% of voters here vote Democratic and 14% Republican.
About 43% of adults in Ponemah typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Ponemah, ~37% vote Democratic, ~6% Republican, and ~57% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Ponemah compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Ponemah leans more Democratic than 8 of 11 neighbors.
Ponemah runs about 67 points more Democratic than Minnesota as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Ponemah. The northwest side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+82) and the south side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+71), a spread of about 11 points.
Why Ponemah 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 Ponemah, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many never-married adults vote Democratic. About 73% of adults in Ponemah have never been married, far above similar-sized cities (around 30%).
Cancer-screening access and voter turnout
Places with low colon-cancer-screening access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Ponemah, MN 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 Ponemah looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Ponemah 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 42%, about 25 points below the Minnesota average of 66%. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 45% of adults in Ponemah report food insecurity, in the top fraction of cities. High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, and Ponemah sits in the top 15% on a violent-crime measure. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Saum, MN D+39
- Redby, MN D+77
- Red Lake, MN D+79
- Little Rock, MN D+82
- Shotley, MN R+31
- Quiring, MN R+54
- Nebish, MN R+38
- Waskish, MN R+39
- Kelliher, MN R+45
- Debs, MN R+45
Cities with Similar Populations
- Marietta, NC R+26
- March ARB, CA Even
- Union Grove, TN R+67
- Glenwood, IN R+67
- Lyman, WA R+30
- Flingsville, KY R+60
- Hollister, FL R+71
- Roggen, CO R+68
- Eckford, MI R+50
- Brush Creek, TN R+67
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Minnesota 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.