Lawrence, KS is a vibrant and culturally diverse city located in the northeastern part of the state. It is known for its progressive political climate, with an emphasis on environmental protection, civil rights, and social justice. Lawrence's government is made up of a mayor-council system, with the mayor being elected to a four-year term. The city council consists of seven members who are elected by ward to four-year terms. Recently, Lawrence has seen an increase in local political activism from citizens who are passionate about issues such as housing affordability, economic development, public safety and educational equity. The city offers opportunities for participation through community meetings and forums that allow residents to voice their concerns and opinions directly to local decision makers. With this newfound enthusiasm for civic engagement, Lawrence continues to be a great place to live for all members of the community regardless of race or socioeconomic status.
The political climate in Lawrence, KS is strongly liberal.
Douglas County, KS is very liberal. In Douglas County, KS 68.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 28.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Douglas county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 68.0% to 28.8%.
Douglas county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Lawrence, KS is strongly liberal.
Douglas County, Kansas is very liberal.
Lawrence Metro Area is very liberal.
Kansas is somewhat conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Lawrence, Kansas: d D D D D D
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D if the Democratic Party candidate won and I if the Independent Party candidate won. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Lawrence, KS
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 15,825 contributions totaling $1,230,029 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $78 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,179 contributions totaling $585,396 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $497 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)