St. Helens leans slightly Republican by roughly 10 points: about 45% of voters vote Democratic and 55% Republican.
About 79% of adults in St. Helens typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in St. Helens, ~36% vote Democratic, ~43% Republican, and ~21% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How St. Helens compares
Among cities within 25 miles, St. Helens leans more Republican than 18 of 56 neighbors.
St. Helens runs about 24 points more Republican than Oregon as a whole. Oregon leans Democratic overall, while St. Helens is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within St. Helens. The northwest side is the most split-leaning (R+19) and the northeast side is the least split-leaning (Even), a spread of about 19 points.
Why St. Helens 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 St. Helens, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
St. Helens votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 73%, far above the Oregon average of 31%). State and regional patterns outweigh the Democratic lean that density usually predicts here. St. Helens runs against the grain of Oregon, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
Paved land cover and Democratic lean
Places with extensive paved surfaces tend to lean Democratic; St. Helens, OR sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. Paved ground does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban and built-up a place is.
Why turnout in St. Helens looks the way it does
Turnout in St. Helens sits close to the national pattern. Routine healthcare access, homeownership, education, and food security all land near their national averages here. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Columbia City, OR R+22
- Yankton, OR R+24
- Warren, OR R+16
- Woodland, WA R+31
- Deer Island, OR R+30
- Scappoose, OR R+10
- Sara, WA R+7
- Ridgefield, WA R+5
- South Scappoose, OR R+5
- La Center, WA R+31
Cities with Similar Populations
- White Plains, MD D+59
- Miami, OK R+46
- Lugoff, SC R+40
- Morganville, NJ R+12
- Overland, MO D+24
- Raynham, MA R+3
- Birdsboro, PA R+23
- Grafton, WI R+7
- Vineyard, UT R+30
- Seekonk, MA Even
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Oregon 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.