Kinston, NC is a small city located in Eastern North Carolina. Politically, the city is fairly moderate, with most of its citizens voting Democratic in local and national elections. The City Council is currently composed of seven members who have been elected by the people of Kinston. The current mayor, Don Hardy, has held the office since 2012 and has been a strong advocate for the community during his tenure. In addition to Mayor Hardy, there are several other political leaders in Kinston that serve on various boards and committees throughout the region. The local Board of Education is also an important part of Kinston's political landscape, as it oversees its public school system and works to ensure students receive a quality education. Overall, politics in Kinston are largely focused on improving the lives of residents and fostering economic development in the region.
The political climate in Kinston, NC is leaning liberal.
Lenoir County, NC is leaning conservative. In Lenoir County, NC 47.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 51.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 0.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Lenoir county remained Republican, 51.4% to 47.9%.
Lenoir county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Kinston, NC is leaning liberal.
Lenoir County, North Carolina is leaning conservative.
Kinston Metro Area is leaning conservative.
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.
Kinston, 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 Kinston, NC
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,821 contributions totaling $281,916 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $155 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,199 contributions totaling $319,067 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $266 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)