Palm Desert, California is located in the Coachella Valley and is home to a diverse population. The Palm Desert Municipal Code provides the framework for laws and regulations governing the city and its residents. The City Council of Palm Desert consists of five members, each elected by city residents for four-year staggered terms. They serve as the legislative body of the city and are responsible for enacting local ordinances, considering land use matters, adopting the annual budget, and approving contracts with public agencies or private entities. The council is also responsible for appointing various boards and commissions to review matters of importance to the community. Additionally, Palm Desert is part of Riverside County's Fifth District which is represented in Congress by Congressman Raul Ruiz (D).
The political climate in Palm Desert, CA is leaning liberal.
Riverside County, CA is leaning liberal. In Riverside County, CA 53.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 45.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Riverside county remained moderately Democratic, 53.0% to 45.0%.
Riverside county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Palm Desert, CA is leaning liberal.
Riverside County, California is leaning liberal.
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Metro Area is somewhat 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.
Palm Desert, California: 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 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 Palm Desert, CA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 17,311 contributions totaling $1,762,361 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $102 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 4,843 contributions totaling $2,873,137 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $593 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)