Clayton, NC is a small town located in Johnston County with a population of around 17,000. It is known for its rural character and friendly atmosphere. Clayton has an active government that is responsible for managing the town’s affairs and promoting the well-being of its citizens. The local government is led by Mayor Jody McLeod, who was elected to a four-year term in 2017. There are also nine City Council members that form the governing body of Clayton. These council members are elected to serve staggered two-year terms. The council meets regularly to review policies and enact ordinances meant to ensure the safety and prosperity of Clayton’s residents. In addition, there are several committees consisting of citizens from Clayton who work closely with the city council on various issues such as land use, development, budgeting and more. Through these committees, citizens have a direct say in how their town should be run and can help shape the future of Clayton’s politics.
The political climate in Clayton, NC is somewhat conservative.
Johnston County, NC is strongly conservative. In Johnston County, NC 37.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 61.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Johnston county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 61.4% to 37.0%.
Johnston county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Clayton, NC is somewhat conservative.
Johnston County, North Carolina is strongly conservative.
Raleigh-Cary Metro Area is moderately liberal.
North Carolina is leaning conservative.
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.
Clayton, North Carolina: R R R R R R
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 Clayton, NC
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,079 contributions totaling $97,130 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $47 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 725 contributions totaling $164,926 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $227 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)