Southwood leans Republican by roughly 22 points: about 39% of voters vote Democratic and 61% Republican.
About 66% of adults in Southwood typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Southwood, ~26% vote Democratic, ~40% Republican, and ~34% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Southwood compares
Southwood sits in a sparsely populated area with few comparable neighborhoods nearby.
Southwood runs about 28 points more Republican than New Jersey as a whole. New Jersey leans Democratic overall, while Southwood is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Why Southwood 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 Southwood, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 82% of households in Southwood are family households, about 15 points above the U.S. average of 67%. Southwood runs against the grain of New Jersey, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
Renting and voter turnout
Places with homeowner-heavy households tend to turn out at a higher rate; Southwood, Old Bridge, NJ sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Southwood looks the way it does
Homeowners vote more often than renters. About 97% of households in Southwood own their home, about 22 points above the New Jersey average of 74%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Neighborhoods
- Creighton Village, Old Bridge, NJ R+24
- Townelake, Sayreville, NJ R+11
- La Mer, Parlin, NJ D+15
- Presidents Park, Parlin, NJ R+10
- Ravine Gardens, Matawan, NJ R+4
- Bonhamtown, Edison, NJ D+16
- Tottenville, Staten Island, NY R+62
- Robinvale, Metuchen, NJ D+36
- Charleston, Staten Island, NY R+51
- Prince's Bay, Staten Island, NY R+56
Neighborhoods with Similar Populations
- Ednor Gardens-Lakeside, Baltimore, MD D+86
- Harris, Lehigh Acres, FL R+8
- Schenley, Youngstown, OH D+11
- North Park, Billings, MT D+17
- Maple Heights-Lake Desire, Renton, WA D+17
- Tierra Oeste, Albuquerque, NM D+15
- Midtown Springfield, Springfield, MO D+17
- Greenwood and Hamilton, Trenton, NJ D+64
- Rosemont, Portland, ME D+69
- Questa, Mountain House, CA D+10
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from New Jersey Division of 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.