Witten is a Republican stronghold. About 15% of voters here vote Democratic and 85% Republican.
About 54% of adults in Witten typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Witten, ~8% vote Democratic, ~46% Republican, and ~46% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Witten compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Witten leans more Republican than 10 of 11 neighbors.
Witten runs about 41 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.
Why Witten 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 Witten, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas vote Republican. About 2% of residents in Witten live in densely developed areas, about 7 points below the South Dakota average of 9%.
Paved land cover and Republican lean
Places with little paved surface tend to lean Republican; Witten, SD sits in the bottom 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 Witten looks the way it does
High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, mostly because the housing stress common in those areas makes voting harder. Witten sits in the top 15% nationally on a violent-crime measure. See CrimeGrade for more details. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Mosher, SD R+61
- Wewela, SD R+63
- Carter, SD R+56
- Ideal, SD R+69
- Winner, SD R+52
- Okreek, SD D+27
- Wood, SD R+41
- Keyapaha, SD R+31
- Colome, SD R+71
Cities with Similar Populations
- Amigo, WV R+69
- Granite, CO R+8
- Franklin Depot, NY R+29
- Fredonia, AR R+54
- Freedom, KY R+73
- Stovertown, OH R+59
- Caborn, IN R+47
- Bullock Creek, MI R+26
- South Dover, ME R+30
- Silica, KS R+67
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from South Dakota 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.