South Shore, SD Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in South Shore

By the BestNeighborhood data science team. Last updated May 2026.

South Shore is a Republican stronghold. About 23% of voters here vote Democratic and 77% Republican.

 

About 69% of adults in South Shore typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in South Shore, ~16% vote Democratic, ~53% Republican, and ~31% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How South Shore compares

Among cities within 25 miles, South Shore leans more Republican than 14 of 27 neighbors.

South Shore runs about 25 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.

Why South Shore 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 South Shore, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Rural areas with a high white share vote Republican. South Shore 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; South Shore, SD sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.

Why turnout in South Shore looks the way it does

Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. South Shore 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 73%, about 13 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 91% of households in South Shore own their home, about 16 points above the U.S. average of 75%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

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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.