Columbus, Ohio is the capital and largest city in the state of Ohio. It is home to a diverse population of over 880,000 people, making it one of the most populous cities in the Midwest. The city is a major political center throughout the state and region, with both local and state government offices located in Columbus. On a local level, voters in Columbus choose their mayor and city council members to make decisions that affect their everyday lives. At the state level, elected officials such as governors, senators and representatives from Columbus are responsible for setting policy that affects all Ohioans. Political campaigns frequently come through Columbus to address issues that matter to its citizens. There are many different political initiatives being pursued in Columbus right now such as improving public transit systems, increasing access to healthcare services and protecting vulnerable communities from displacement due to gentrification. In addition, several prominent political figures have roots in Columbus like former President William Howard Taft and current Senator Sherrod Brown. With so much energy surrounding politics here, it’s no surprise that Columbus has become an important voice when it comes to discussing national issues.
The political climate in Columbus, OH is moderately liberal.
Franklin County, OH is strongly liberal. In Franklin County, OH 64.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 33.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Franklin county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 64.7% to 33.4%.
Franklin county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Columbus, OH is moderately liberal.
Franklin County, Ohio is strongly liberal.
Columbus 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.
Columbus, 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 Columbus, OH
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 93,278 contributions totaling $15,107,623 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $162 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 21,769 contributions totaling $27,794,760 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,277 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)