Buffalo, NY is the second largest city in the state of New York and has a rich political history. The city is home to several local and state representatives, as well as a few national politicians. On the local level, Buffalo is served by an elected mayor, Common Council members, and representatives from each district. These officials serve to represent their constituents in City Hall while providing essential services such as infrastructure development and public safety measures. At the state level, Buffalo is served by senators who are part of both the majority and minority party caucuses. These senators help to create legislation that affects all citizens of New York State. Lastly, on a federal level, Buffalo’s population is represented by two U.S Congressional Representatives who work to ensure that the interests of their constituents are met at the highest level of government. Buffalo’s political scene is diverse and ever-changing; with new candidates running for office every election cycle, it promises to remain an exciting place for politics in years to come.
The political climate in Buffalo, NY is moderately liberal.
Erie County, NY is somewhat liberal. In Erie County, NY 56.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Erie county remained strongly Democratic, 56.5% to 41.7%.
Erie county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Buffalo, NY is moderately liberal.
Erie County, New York is somewhat liberal.
Buffalo-Cheektowaga Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
New York is moderately 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.
Buffalo, New York: 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 Buffalo, NY
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 14,406 contributions totaling $1,974,206 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $137 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,177 contributions totaling $1,062,744 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $903 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)