Tuscaloosa, AL is home to a vibrant political atmosphere. The city is the county seat of Tuscaloosa County and is represented in the state legislature by five members in both the Alabama House of Representatives and Senate. At the local level, Tuscaloosa citizens can elect a mayor and nine-member city council, who work together to make decisions on behalf of their constituents. Local elections are often hotly contested with several candidates running for office each year. The issues addressed by political candidates range from economic development and infrastructure improvements to public safety and social services. In addition, Tuscaloosa has a growing presence in national politics as well, with Senator Doug Jones representing the area in Congress. With so many diverse voices competing for attention in Tuscaloosa’s political scene, residents can be assured that their concerns will be heard by elected officials at all levels of government.
The political climate in Tuscaloosa, AL is leaning liberal.
Tuscaloosa County, AL is somewhat conservative. In Tuscaloosa County, AL 41.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 56.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Tuscaloosa county remained strongly Republican, 56.7% to 41.9%.
Tuscaloosa county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Tuscaloosa, AL is leaning liberal.
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama is somewhat conservative.
Tuscaloosa Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
Alabama is strongly 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.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama: 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 Tuscaloosa, AL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 6,359 contributions totaling $2,211,877 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $348 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,367 contributions totaling $1,703,773 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $506 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)