Varney is a Republican stronghold. About 12% of voters here vote Democratic and 88% Republican.
About 53% of adults in Varney typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Varney, ~6% vote Democratic, ~46% Republican, and ~48% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Varney compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Varney leans more Republican than 119 of 144 neighbors.
Varney runs about 35 points more Republican than West Virginia as a whole.
Why Varney 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 Varney, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with low college attainment vote Republican. About 7% of adults in Varney hold a bachelor's degree, about 10 points below the West Virginia average of 17%.
Park access and Republican lean
Places with low park coverage tend to lean Republican; Varney, WV sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure. Park access does not change how people vote; it tends to track denser, higher-income areas.
Why turnout in Varney looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Varney 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 43%, about 8 points below the West Virginia average of 52%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 35% of households in Varney rent, above 91% of cities. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 30% of adults in Varney report food insecurity, above 95% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Red Jacket, WV R+73
- Ragland, WV R+75
- Taylorville, WV R+75
- Pie, WV R+75
- North Matewan, WV R+67
- Matewan, WV R+74
- Lobata, WV R+74
- McCarr, KY R+74
- Rawl, WV R+78
- Hampden, WV R+76
Cities with Similar Populations
- Eunice, KY R+72
- Greensboro, IN R+59
- Oakdale, OR R+30
- Springhill, MO R+69
- Popes Creek, MD R+18
- Emanuel, KY R+80
- Bolinger, LA R+54
- Brantingham, NY R+28
- Weybridge Hill, VT D+14
- South Sutton, NH Even
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from West Virginia 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.