Bethel, Alaska is the largest community in Southwest Alaska and has a vibrant political climate. The city council of Bethel is composed of six members elected to serve a two-year term. During local elections, many candidates from various backgrounds vie for these positions. The topics that are most commonly discussed in these elections include infrastructure improvements and resource management. Additionally, some issues like the legalization of cannabis have recently been featured prominently in Bethel’s local political debates. Although the discussions often become heated, the political discourse in Bethel is always carried out with respect and civility among all participants. Overall, politics in Bethel provide an opportunity for its residents to engage with one another on important matters while working towards building a better community for everyone.
The political climate in Bethel, AK is moderately liberal.
Bethel Census Area County, AK is strongly liberal. In Bethel Census Area County, AK 60.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 32.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 7.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Bethel Borough flipped overwhelmingly Democratic, 60.0% to 32.6%.
Bethel county flipped Democratic in most recent Presidential election (2016 and 2004 went Republican).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Bethel, AK is moderately liberal.
Bethel Census Area County, Alaska is strongly liberal.
Alaska 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.
Bethel, Alaska: d R D D r 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 Bethel, AK
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 244 contributions totaling $16,790 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $69 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 7 contributions totaling $2,904 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $415 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)