Bristol, VA is a city in the southwestern region of Virginia. It is governed by an independent mayor and five-member city council who are elected by the public every four years. The current Mayor of Bristol is Neal Osborne, and the current city council consists of five members: Diane Stone, Daniel Cannon, Tonya Witcher, Felix Johnson, and Victoria Smith. City politics in Bristol focus on economic development and job creation as well as infrastructure improvements such as new roadways and expansion of existing sewer systems. Additionally, there are many initiatives to increase access to quality education and health services for the citizens of Bristol. These efforts have been successful in helping foster a vibrant economy that offers opportunities for both businesses and residents alike. In addition, the city has been active in encouraging civic participation through events such as community forums to discuss local issues. By promoting engaged and informed citizens as well as efficient government policies, Bristol is working towards a bright future.
The political climate in Bristol, VA is moderately conservative.
Bristol City County, VA is very conservative. In Bristol City County, VA 29.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 68.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Bristol city county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 68.5% to 29.6%.
Bristol city county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Bristol, VA is moderately conservative.
Bristol City County, Virginia is very conservative.
Kingsport-Bristol Metro Area is very conservative.
Virginia is somewhat liberal.
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.
Bristol, Virginia: 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 Bristol, VA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 665 contributions totaling $91,242 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $137 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 284 contributions totaling $343,906 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,211 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)