The politics of Paterson, NJ are heavily influenced by the city’s large population that is comprised of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. As such, various local political candidates from a variety of parties and ideologies are vying for the support of Paterson's diverse community. The most pressing issues in Paterson's political landscape include economic development, affordable housing, education reform, and crime control. There are numerous organizations and initiatives dedicated to advocating for solutions to these issues, with local politicians working together to ensure the best outcomes for all residents. Through careful negotiations and compromise, these elected officials strive to keep the city's needs front-and-center while addressing the concerns of its citizens.
The political climate in Paterson, NJ is strongly liberal.
Passaic County, NJ is moderately liberal. In Passaic County, NJ 57.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Passaic county remained very strongly Democratic, 57.5% to 41.0%.
Passaic county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Paterson, NJ is strongly liberal.
Passaic County, New Jersey is moderately liberal.
New York-Newark-Jersey City Metro Area is strongly liberal.
New Jersey is somewhat liberal.
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.
Paterson, New Jersey: 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 Paterson, NJ
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 679 contributions totaling $110,275 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $162 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 103 contributions totaling $118,267 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,148 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)