Athens, OH is a vibrant and diverse community with a strong history of political engagement. Home to Ohio University, the city of Athens has long been an area of active political discussion and participation. Locally, citizens are involved in many civic activities such as voting in elections, attending town hall meetings, and taking part in public policy initiatives. The mayor of Athens is Steve Patterson, who was re-elected to his second term in 2019. The City Council is responsible for making policy decisions on behalf of the residents, which are ultimately under the authority of Mayor Patterson. Further down the line, Ohio's congressional representatives include: Rep. Steve Stivers (R), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), and Sen. Rob Portman (R). All three representatives have offices located near or in Athens where constituents can reach out for assistance or meet with their representatives if needed. Through these officials and other local leaders, the people of Athens are able to make their voices heard on important issues at all levels of government.
The political climate in Athens, OH is moderately liberal.
Athens County, OH is somewhat liberal. In Athens County, OH 56.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Athens county remained strongly Democratic, 56.6% to 41.6%.
Athens county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Athens, OH is moderately liberal.
Athens County, Ohio is somewhat liberal.
Athens Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
Ohio 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.
Athens, Ohio: 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 Athens, OH
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 8,612 contributions totaling $803,098 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $93 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 642 contributions totaling $104,764 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $163 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)