Southeast leans heavily Democratic by roughly 48 points: about 74% of voters vote Democratic and 26% Republican.
About 43% of adults in Southeast typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Southeast, ~32% vote Democratic, ~11% Republican, and ~57% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Southeast compares
Southeast runs about 62 points more Democratic than Texas as a whole. Texas leans Republican overall, while Southeast is one of the few Democratic-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by block within Southeast. The west side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+77) and the southeast side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+16), a spread of about 60 points.
Why Southeast leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per neighborhood to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Southeast, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Southeast votes against the grain of Texas. Texas leans Republican overall, while Southeast runs about 62 points more Democratic.
Cancer-screening access and voter turnout
Places with low colon-cancer-screening access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Southeast, Houston, TX 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 Southeast looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Southeast 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 44%, about 9 points below the Texas average of 54%. Low high-school completion lines up with lower turnout, and about 76% of adults in Southeast have completed high school, below 90% of neighborhoods. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Neighborhoods
- East End, Houston, TX D+31
- Medical, Houston, TX D+41
- South Main, Houston, TX D+60
- Rice, Houston, TX D+39
- Downtown Pasadena, Pasadena, TX D+6
- Midtown, Houston, TX D+42
- Willow Meadows-Willowbend Area, Houston, TX D+36
- Downtown Houston, Houston, TX D+49
- Montrose, Houston, TX D+39
- Southbelt Ellington, Houston, TX D+3
Neighborhoods with Similar Populations
- North Last Vegas, North Las Vegas, NV D+23
- South Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA D+57
- Maryvale, Phoenix, AZ D+29
- Northeast Dallas-White Rock, Dallas, TX D+30
- Paradise, Las Vegas, NV D+17
- Jamaica, Queens, NY D+36
- Upper West Side, Manhattan, NY D+71
- Gravesend-Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, NY R+29
- Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY D+77
- Mapleton-Flatlands, Brooklyn, NY D+4
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Texas Secretary of State, Elections Division, 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.