Taft leans heavily Republican by roughly 40 points: about 30% of voters vote Democratic and 70% Republican.
About 46% of adults in Taft typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Taft, ~14% vote Democratic, ~32% Republican, and ~54% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Taft compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Taft leans more Republican than 6 of 13 neighbors.
Taft runs about 60 points more Republican than California as a whole. California leans Democratic overall, while Taft is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Taft. The northeast side is the most Republican-leaning (R+69) and the south side is the least Republican-leaning (R+13), a spread of about 56 points.
Why Taft 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 Taft, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Taft votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 67%, modestly above the California average of 58%). State and regional patterns outweigh the Democratic lean that density usually predicts here. Low college attainment predicts Republican voting, and Taft sits in the bottom quarter (about 8%, below 95% of cities). Taft runs against the grain of California, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
Cancer-screening access and voter turnout
Places with low colon-cancer-screening access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Taft, CA 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 Taft looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Taft 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 48%, about 14 points below the California average of 62%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 50% of households in Taft rent, about 25 points above the U.S. average of 25%. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 29% of adults in Taft report food insecurity, above 94% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- South Taft, CA R+19
- Ford City, CA R+57
- Valley Acres, CA R+80
- Maricopa, CA R+63
- Fellows, CA R+80
- Tupman, CA R+73
- Mc Kittrick, CA R+82
- Buttonwillow, CA R+23
- New Cuyama, CA R+23
- Cuyama, CA R+23
Cities with Similar Populations
- La Marque, TX D+11
- Glen Mills, PA D+4
- Gibsonton, FL D+4
- Los Fresnos, TX R+12
- Alton, TX R+3
- Lindsay, CA R+5
- Gilmer, TX R+64
- Emmaus, PA R+6
- Eastlake, OH R+14
- Dallas, NC R+32
All Local Stats
Home Services
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from California 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.