Portsmouth, NH is a city with a vibrant political atmosphere. Residents in the area are actively engaged with local politics and take part in debates over issues facing their community. The city has a strong history of democratic leadership and is represented by current U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter in Washington DC, as well as state senators Martha Fuller Clark and Tom Sherman in Concord. In addition to these representatives, the local government of Portsmouth is comprised of a mayor and City Council that meet regularly to discuss important matters such as taxation, public safety, infrastructure projects, zoning laws, and other topics that affect the city’s residents. Portsmouth also employs several boards and commissions as well which advise on other matters such as land use regulations, historic preservation efforts, economic development strategies, and more. The citizens of Portsmouth take an active interest in their local government through attending meetings, voicing opinions on policy proposals, voting for candidates in elections at all levels of government from local to national levels.
The political climate in Portsmouth, NH is leaning liberal.
Rockingham County, NH is leaning liberal. In Rockingham County, NH 50.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 48.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Rockingham county flipped narrowly Democratic, 50.2% to 48.1%.
Rockingham county flipped Democratic in 2020, after voting Republican in four of the last six Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Portsmouth, NH is leaning liberal.
Rockingham County, New Hampshire is leaning liberal.
Boston-Cambridge-Newton Metro Area is very liberal.
New Hampshire is leaning 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.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire: r r d r r 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 Portsmouth, NH
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 5,769 contributions totaling $1,174,681 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $204 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 799 contributions totaling $375,900 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $470 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)