Fairfax, Virginia is a vibrant city rich in culture, history, and politics. As the county seat of Fairfax County, Fairfax is home to many of the government buildings and offices of Northern Virginia, making it an important political hub in the region. The City’s Council consists of 9 members who are elected for two-year terms. They are responsible for setting policy and delivering services such as fire protection, street maintenance and libraries. In addition to the mayor and council members, there are various state senators and representatives that represent Fairfax in both Richmond and Washington D.C. Currently, Senator Mark Warner (D) represents Virginia's Senate seat while Gerry Connolly (D) serves as Congressman for the 11th District. Several local politicians have been working tirelessly to promote a thriving economy while maintaining its strong sense of community values that have made Fairfax such a desirable place to live.
The political climate in Fairfax, VA is moderately liberal.
Fairfax City County, VA is very liberal. In Fairfax City County, VA 68.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 29.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Fairfax city county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 68.0% to 29.7%.
Fairfax city county voted Democratic in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Republican in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Fairfax, VA is moderately liberal.
Fairfax City County, Virginia is very liberal.
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metro Area is very liberal.
Virginia 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.
Fairfax, Virginia: r 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 Fairfax, VA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 12,959 contributions totaling $1,925,404 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $149 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,292 contributions totaling $1,393,298 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $423 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)