Portland is a Democratic stronghold. About 81% of voters here vote Democratic and 19% Republican. These figures are model estimates: Maine did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the numbers above come from demographic and health features rather than local ground truth.
About 73% of adults in Portland typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Portland, ~59% vote Democratic, ~14% Republican, and ~27% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Portland compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Portland is the most Democratic-leaning.
Portland runs about 55 points more Democratic than Maine as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Portland. The south side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+78) and the northwest side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+41), a spread of about 37 points.
Why Portland 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 Portland, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 60% of adults in Portland hold a bachelor's degree, about 31 points above the U.S. average of 28%. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 43% of adults in Portland have never been married, above 95% of cities.
Walkability and Democratic lean
Places with a highly walkable street grid tend to lean Democratic; Portland, ME sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. A walkable street grid does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban a place is.
Why turnout in Portland looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Portland is in the top quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. The dental-visit rate here is about 68%, about 8 points above the U.S. average of 60%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 96% of adults in Portland have completed high school, above 86% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- South Portland, ME D+43
- Falmouth, ME D+31
- Peaks Island, ME D+57
- Westbrook, ME D+17
- Cape Elizabeth, ME D+46
- Cash Corner, ME D+47
- Long Island, ME D+52
- Scarborough, ME D+21
- Cumberland Foreside, ME D+33
- Gorham, ME D+4
Cities with Similar Populations
- Riverdale, GA D+77
- Bethesda, MD D+65
- The Colony, TX R+3
- Waterloo, IA D+11
- West Des Moines, IA D+15
- Covina, CA D+14
- Bellevue, NE R+2
- Warren, OH Even
- Laveen, AZ D+32
- Haverhill, MA D+11
All Local Stats
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Maine Secretary of State, Bureau of Corporations Elections and Commissions, 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. ME did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the figures here come from extrapolation across demographic, health, and land-use features rather than local ground truth. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.