Richmond, California is an important political center in the Bay Area. As the largest city in Contra Costa County, it is home to a diverse and engaged population that is deeply invested in politics. Despite its small size, Richmond has a powerful impact on local and state politics. The City Council of Richmond comprises seven members who are elected at-large and serve four-year terms. Through their leadership, the council works with community members to set policy objectives and work towards equitable outcomes for all residents. The mayor of Richmond is also elected by the people every two years. Additionally, many advocacy organizations in the area lobby for change on issues such as housing affordability, environmental justice, police reform, and education funding. With active citizens, passionate politicians, and committed advocates working together for the good of the community, Richmond has become a model for progressive local politics throughout California.
The political climate in Richmond, CA is strongly liberal.
Contra Costa County, CA is very liberal. In Contra Costa County, CA 71.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 26.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Contra Costa county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 71.6% to 26.3%.
Contra Costa county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Richmond, CA is strongly liberal.
Contra Costa County, California is very liberal.
San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley 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.
Richmond, 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 Richmond, CA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 45,463 contributions totaling $2,782,603 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $61 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,860 contributions totaling $331,327 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $178 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)