Harrisonburg, Virginia is a vibrant city situated in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. The city is governed by an elected mayor and six city council members, who are all responsible for the local political issues. In addition to managing day-to-day operations, they coordinate with various state and federal government agencies and organizations. Recent elections have seen Mayor Deanna Reed and councilmembers Harry Warner, John Hood, Bob Martin, Cathy Funkhouser, Howard Davis Jr., and Dwight Poore hold office. Together these elected officials work to ensure that Harrisonburg residents have access to quality public services such as schools, healthcare facilities, public transportation and other necessities. They also strive to create a safe environment for people to live and work in while encouraging businesses to invest in the local economy. With their leadership, Harrisonburg continues to be a thriving community that attracts professionals from across the country looking for a great place to live.
The political climate in Harrisonburg, VA is moderately liberal.
Harrisonburg City County, VA is very liberal. In Harrisonburg City County, VA 64.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 32.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Harrisonburg city county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 64.5% to 32.7%.
Harrisonburg city county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Harrisonburg, VA is moderately liberal.
Harrisonburg City County, Virginia is very liberal.
Harrisonburg Metro Area is somewhat 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.
Harrisonburg, Virginia: R R 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 Harrisonburg, VA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3,405 contributions totaling $263,267 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $77 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 790 contributions totaling $204,588 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $259 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)