Albany, New York is the state capital of New York and is located on the west bank of the Hudson River. The city has a long history of political involvement, with numerous local political candidates running for office every election cycle. The city also has a vibrant political culture, with various groups organizing and advocating for their causes. A range of issues such as economic development, housing affordability, and racial justice are debated throughout the year in Albany’s City Hall chambers, which are regularly filled to capacity during public meetings. In addition to politics within the walls of City Hall, local businesses and community members often come together to discuss how best to move forward on important local issues. Through it all, Albany remains a vibrant hub for political debate and engagement - one that looks forward to continued progress in the years ahead.
The political climate in Albany, NY is strongly liberal.
Albany County, NY is strongly liberal. In Albany County, NY 64.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 33.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Albany county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 64.6% to 33.1%.
Albany county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Albany, NY is strongly liberal.
Albany County, New York is strongly liberal.
Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
New York is moderately 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.
Albany, New York: 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 Albany, NY
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 17,540 contributions totaling $1,666,848 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $95 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,233 contributions totaling $442,934 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $359 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)