Rutherford, NJ is a bustling town located in Bergen County and home to nearly 19,000 residents. It is a small but vibrant community full of diverse people and culture. Politically, the town is represented by several local leaders, including Mayor John Hippely who has held office since 2018. The Rutherford Town Council consists of four council members who serve two-year terms and are elected in staggered elections. Additionally, the township is part of the 8th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly and sends two representatives to the state legislature every two years. The town also participates in county government through Bergen County Executive James Tedesco and Freeholder Joan Voss. Rutherford citizens frequently choose to get involved through public forums or educational programs on political issues that can affect their lives and those around them. With strong leadership at all levels of government, Rutherford remains an active participant in shaping its own political future.
The political climate in Rutherford, NJ is somewhat liberal.
Bergen County, NJ is moderately liberal. In Bergen County, NJ 57.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Bergen county remained very strongly Democratic, 57.4% to 41.1%.
Bergen county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Rutherford, NJ is somewhat liberal.
Bergen County, New Jersey is moderately liberal.
New York-Newark-Jersey City Metro Area is strongly liberal.
New Jersey 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.
Rutherford, New Jersey: 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 Rutherford, NJ
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,482 contributions totaling $281,953 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $190 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 229 contributions totaling $70,204 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $307 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)