Barnstable, MA County is located in the southeastern corner of Massachusetts. It is the largest county in the state and has a rich history that includes being one of the original pilgrim settlements. The county is governed by an elected Board of County Commissioners, along with several other elected officials such as Sheriff, Register of Deeds and Clerk of Courts. Political issues vary from regional infrastructure projects to social services for those in need. In Barnstable, local politics often focuses on improving education opportunities, public safety initiatives, environmental protection measures and more. Recently there have been efforts to increase the number of jobs available within the county so that current residents can stay and new ones can come in. With numerous municipal governments across its towns and villages - each with its own town council - Barnstable remains a vibrant political region where town councils are active participants in shaping their local communities.
The political climate in Barnstable County, MA is strongly liberal.
In Barnstable County, MA 61.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 36.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Barnstable county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 61.2% to 36.8%.
Barnstable county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Barnstable County, MA is strongly liberal.
Barnstable Town Metro Area is strongly liberal.
Massachusetts is very 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.
Barnstable, Massachusetts: 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 for the Democrat and I for the Independent. 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 Barnstable County, MA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 40,869 contributions totaling $3,606,163 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $88 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,386 contributions totaling $871,886 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $258 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)