Tampa, FL is an exciting city with a vibrant political scene. It is the county seat of Hillsborough County and the home of several state and local government offices. The Tampa City Council consists of six members elected to three-year terms by the citizens of Tampa. The Mayor, who serves as president of the council, is elected every four years. In addition to local government representatives, Tampa also has two US Senators and two congressional representatives in the US House of Representatives. The city also holds a number of regular forums for citizens to meet and discuss issues such as housing, economic development, transportation, and public safety with their local representatives. With its diverse population and its strong sense of community spirit, Tampa’s political landscape offers people from all walks of life a platform on which to make their voices heard.
The political climate in Tampa, FL is somewhat liberal.
Hillsborough County, FL is leaning liberal. In Hillsborough County, FL 52.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 45.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Hillsborough county remained moderately Democratic, 52.7% to 45.8%.
Hillsborough county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Tampa, FL is somewhat liberal.
Hillsborough County, Florida is leaning liberal.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Florida is leaning 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.
Tampa, Florida: r r 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 Tampa, FL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 28,459 contributions totaling $4,653,600 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $164 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 8,178 contributions totaling $10,559,273 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,291 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)