Politics in Waltham, MA are carried out at the local level by elected officials. The mayor of Waltham is appointed every two years and is responsible for creating a budget that meets the needs of the city. Additionally, there are nine District Councilors who serve to represent different areas of Waltham and serve on various committees, such as the Finance Committee or Public Safety Committee. There are several local initiatives and programs that are currently being discussed by the councilors, including affordable housing initiatives, public safety laws, and environmental protection. The residents of Waltham have many opportunities to get involved in their local government through attending meetings or engaging in political campaigns for those running for political office.
The political climate in Waltham, MA is strongly liberal.
Middlesex County, MA is very liberal. In Middlesex County, MA 71.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 26.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Middlesex county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 71.5% to 26.3%.
Middlesex county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Waltham, MA is strongly liberal.
Middlesex County, Massachusetts is very 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.
Waltham, 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 Waltham, MA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 14,478 contributions totaling $1,568,130 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $108 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,394 contributions totaling $1,996,875 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,432 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)