The Columbia, SC Metro Area is home to a diverse population that is heavily engaged in politics. It is the state capital, making it a hub for political activity. Local Politics are often dominated by the Democratic Party, and many of its residents have voted for the Democratic party candidates in recent elections. The region is represented at both the state and federal level with senators and representatives from both parties working together to address issues impacting the community. While partisan differences often exist on certain issues, both sides work together to find solutions that benefit everyone in the region. Various levels of government provide services such as public transportation, police and fire protection, infrastructure maintenance, and other resources necessary for a thriving economy. Political discourse can be found everywhere in the Columbia Metro Area from city hall meetings to neighborhood debates on how local funds should be used. Local candidates are discussing issues like health care reform, taxation systems, education plans, environmental protection, immigration policym and much more.
The political climate in Columbia Metro Area is leaning liberal.
In Columbia Metro Area 52.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 46.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, the Columbia metro area remained moderately Democratic, 52.2% to 46.2%.
The Columbia metro area voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Columbia Metro Area is leaning liberal.
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.
Columbia, South Carolina: 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 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 four elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Columbia Metro Area
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 22,115 contributions totaling $2,315,671 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $105 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 7,942 contributions totaling $2,458,445 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $310 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)