Ralph is a Republican stronghold. About 10% of voters here vote Democratic and 90% Republican.
About 67% of adults in Ralph typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Ralph, ~7% vote Democratic, ~60% Republican, and ~33% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Ralph compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Ralph leans more Republican than 6 of 10 neighbors.
Ralph runs about 52 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Ralph. The west side is the most Republican-leaning (R+88) and the east side is the least Republican-leaning (R+70), a spread of about 19 points.
Why Ralph 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 Ralph, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas vote Republican. About 2% of residents in Ralph live in densely developed areas, about 8 points below the South Dakota average of 9%.
Population density and Republican lean
Places with low population density tend to lean Republican; Ralph, SD sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Ralph looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Ralph 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 70%, about 10 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Twin, SD R+73
- Lodgepole, SD R+70
- Haley, ND R+73
- Reva, SD R+88
- Ludlow, SD R+88
- Prairie City, SD R+74
- Strool, SD R+75
- Sorum, SD R+83
- Bucyrus, ND R+62
Cities with Similar Populations
- Oak Park, PA R+44
- Round Bottom, WV R+64
- Noyo, CA D+32
- Long Valley Junction, UT R+52
- Renick, WV R+63
- Los Hueros, NM D+10
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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.