Sumner leans heavily Republican by roughly 42 points: about 29% of voters vote Democratic and 71% Republican. These figures are model estimates: Maine did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the numbers above come from demographic and health features rather than local ground truth.
About 92% of adults in Sumner typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Sumner, ~27% vote Democratic, ~65% Republican, and ~8% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Sumner compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Sumner leans more Republican than 81 of 82 neighbors.
Sumner runs about 49 points more Republican than Maine as a whole. Maine leans Democratic overall, while Sumner is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Why Sumner 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 Sumner, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Sumner votes against the grain of Maine. Maine leans Democratic overall, while Sumner runs about 49 points more Republican. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 77% of households in Sumner are family households, above 82% of cities.
Park access and Republican lean
Places with low park coverage tend to lean Republican; Sumner, ME sits in the bottom quarter nationally on this measure. Park access does not change how people vote; it tends to track denser, higher-income areas.
Why turnout in Sumner looks the way it does
Homeowners vote more often than renters. About 91% of households in Sumner own their home, about 8 points above the Maine average of 83%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 96% of adults in Sumner have completed high school, above 84% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Chase Mills, ME R+43
- North Buckfield, ME R+38
- West Paris, ME R+29
- Buckfield, ME R+34
- Canton, ME R+32
- Rumford Corner, ME R+34
- Peru, ME R+39
- Trap Corner, ME R+30
- East Buckfield, ME R+30
- Paris, ME R+20
Cities with Similar Populations
- Tilden, IL R+53
- Pope Mills, NY R+45
- Grand Junction, IA R+52
- Trade, TN R+70
- Wauhillau, OK R+60
- Gilchrist, OR R+48
- Drummond, OK R+69
- Pilot Knob, MO R+57
- Sonyea, NY Even
- Swan, IA R+46
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Maine Secretary of State, Bureau of Corporations Elections and Commissions, 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. ME did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the figures here come from extrapolation across demographic, health, and land-use features rather than local ground truth. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.