Salem, Massachusetts is a vibrant city with a long and storied history. The city's politics are reflective of its rich cultural heritage. Salem has been home to many prominent political figures over the years, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and John Quincy Adams. Today, the citizens of Salem come together to discuss and debate important issues facing the city. City government is led by Mayor Kim Driscoll, who has worked hard to improve quality of life in the area. She has put forward initiatives such as increasing green space, investing in public safety programs, and funding infrastructure projects. In addition to these efforts, Mayor Driscoll also works closely with local organizations and businesses to create positive change for the community. With Mayor Driscoll at the helm, residents have hope for a bright future in Salem.
The political climate in Salem, MA is moderately liberal.
Essex County, MA is strongly liberal. In Essex County, MA 63.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 34.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Essex county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 63.4% to 34.4%.
Essex county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Salem, MA is moderately liberal.
Essex County, Massachusetts is strongly liberal.
Boston-Cambridge-Newton Metro Area is very liberal.
Massachusetts is very 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.
Salem, Massachusetts: 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 Salem, MA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 7,155 contributions totaling $894,900 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $125 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 398 contributions totaling $175,425 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $441 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)