I wouldn't call them republican leaning really... less democratic leaning sure, though research does show that the most racist places in the country tends to be cities in the North East.
Reason being? High levels of minorities in your area, but because of segregation you never see them really. You just here about the "worse" things that happen in their areas and assume the worst.
In other cities, they're more integrated so you see more understanding. In smaller non-diverse communties, they're farther way from each other, so you tend to hear less.
When you think about it... it makes sense that cities are democratic because they benefit heavily thanks to democrats. Big cities because they are big get a disproportionate amount of funding, they get all the special projects like subways, their roads fixed etc.
Smaller areas actually kinda get screwed since they only get provided the "base" amount and rarely get huge projects. So in return smaller towns and cities are getting far less for their tax dollars then big cities do.
