Southwest is a Republican stronghold. About 18% of voters here vote Democratic and 82% Republican.
About 60% of adults in Southwest typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Southwest, ~11% vote Democratic, ~49% Republican, and ~40% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Southwest compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Southwest leans more Republican than 61 of 69 neighbors.
Southwest runs about 45 points more Republican than Indiana as a whole.
Why Southwest 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 Southwest, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 77% of households in Southwest are family households, about 10 points above the U.S. average of 67%.
Park access and Republican lean
Places with low park coverage tend to lean Republican; Southwest, IN sits below the national average on this measure. Park access does not change how people vote; it tends to track denser, higher-income areas.
Why turnout in Southwest looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Southwest is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. Low high-school completion lines up with lower turnout, and about 67% of adults in Southwest have completed high school, in the bottom fraction of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Midway, IN R+50
- Wakarusa, IN R+55
- Foraker, IN R+69
- Dunlap, IN R+28
- Goshen, IN R+27
- New Paris, IN R+60
- Waterford Mills, IN R+34
- Nappanee, IN R+57
- Milford Junction, IN R+65
- Elkhart, IN R+15
Cities with Similar Populations
- Hamburg, WI R+45
- Deansboro, NY R+25
- Lenah, VA D+10
- Kempton, IN R+59
- Jefferson City, MT R+37
- Usrytown, MS R+48
- Flinton, PA R+60
- Winchester, KS R+54
- Petronila, TX R+31
- Penobscot, ME D+7
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Indiana 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.