Ben Lomond, CA is a small, rural community located in the San Lorenzo Valley in Santa Cruz County. As of 2020, it has an estimated population of 6,485 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Politically, Ben Lomond residents are primarily Democratic and vote overwhelmingly for candidates that support progressive causes and policies. The local political scene is dominated by two main figures: John Laird and Bruce McPherson. Laird is the California State Senator for District 17 which includes Ben Lomond while McPherson is the former member of the California State Assembly representing District 28 which also includes Ben Lomond. Both are firmly entrenched within their respective districts and have enjoyed strong support from their constituents over the years due to their progressive stances on issues such as healthcare access, environmental conservation, gun control, and LGBT rights among other topics. Together they form a powerful political coalition that has helped shape public policy in Ben Lomond for many years now.
The political climate in Ben Lomond, CA is moderately liberal.
Santa Cruz County, CA is very liberal. In Santa Cruz County, CA 78.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 18.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Santa Cruz county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 78.4% to 18.5%.
Santa Cruz county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Ben Lomond, CA is moderately liberal.
Santa Cruz County, California is very liberal.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville Metro Area is very liberal.
California is strongly 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.
Ben Lomond, California: 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 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 Ben Lomond, CA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 29,516 contributions totaling $3,760,382 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $127 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 972 contributions totaling $224,999 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $231 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)