Aiken, South Carolina is a city located in Aiken County in the western part of the state. The city is renowned for its rich history and culture, as well as its unique place in American politics. Aiken has been home to many influential politicians and activists over the years, including Vice President Al Gore and former US Senator Strom Thurmond. Despite its historic roots, Aiken remains an active political center today. The local government is composed of a mayor-council system, with current Mayor Ronnie Young overseeing day-to-day operations in the city. Local issues such as education, infrastructure, and taxes are all discussed and voted on by elected officials from Aiken. Additionally, the county's two state senators are responsible for representing local interests at the State House in Columbia. Overall, Aiken continues to be an important part of the political landscape in South Carolina and is likely to remain so for years to come.
The political climate in Aiken, SC is somewhat conservative.
Aiken County, SC is moderately conservative. In Aiken County, SC 37.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 60.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Aiken county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 60.6% to 37.9%.
Aiken county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Aiken, SC is somewhat conservative.
Aiken County, South Carolina is moderately conservative.
Augusta-Richmond County Metro Area is leaning conservative.
South Carolina is somewhat 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.
Aiken, South 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 Aiken, SC
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,256 contributions totaling $142,887 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $63 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,649 contributions totaling $239,752 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $145 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)