Sanator is a Republican stronghold. About 24% of voters here vote Democratic and 76% Republican.
About 67% of adults in Sanator typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Sanator, ~16% vote Democratic, ~51% Republican, and ~33% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Sanator compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Sanator leans more Republican than 6 of 12 neighbors.
Sanator runs about 23 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Sanator. The northwest side is the most Republican-leaning (R+57) and the northeast side is the least Republican-leaning (R+44), a spread of about 12 points.
Why Sanator 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 Sanator, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 75% of households in Sanator are family households, about 9 points above the U.S. average of 67%.
Never-married share, developed land, and voter turnout
Places that combine a low never-married share and a rural land-use pattern tend to turn out at a higher rate, as Sanator, SD does.
Why turnout in Sanator looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Sanator 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 71%, about 11 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Custer, SD R+49
- Pringle, SD R+55
- Hill City, SD R+41
- Keystone, SD R+46
- Minnekahta, SD R+53
- Fairburn, SD R+57
- Dudley, SD R+60
- Buffalo Gap, SD R+53
- Hermosa, SD R+58
- Hot Springs, SD R+48
Cities with Similar Populations
- Belgrade, MN R+56
- Hammett, PA R+36
- Koran, LA R+56
- Shawneetown, IL R+62
- Big Horn, WY R+56
- Muir, MI R+48
- Satanta, KS R+67
- Paw Paw, IL R+35
- Riceboro, GA D+45
- New Bohemia, VA R+21
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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.