San Rafael, California is a vibrant city in the Bay Area that boasts a rich history and culture. Located in Marin County, San Rafael is known for its outdoor activities, quaint downtown area, and great neighborhoods. As the county seat of Marin County, San Rafael is also the center of local politics. The City Council comprises seven members who are elected at-large with four-year terms. Additionally, there are several special districts in the city that are governed by publicly-elected boards and commissions. Currently, Mayor Gary Phillips is leading San Rafael’s government and working to create a more inclusive city that meets the needs of all citizens. Other prominent members of San Rafael’s political landscape include Supervisor Damon Connolly and Assemblymember Marc Levine who both have strong records of public service at regional and state levels respectively. With its diverse population and growing economy, San Rafael continues to shape its political landscape with passionate elected officials working to make meaningful changes for its citizens.
The political climate in San Rafael, CA is strongly liberal.
Marin County, CA is very liberal. In Marin County, CA 82.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 15.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Marin county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 82.3% to 15.8%.
Marin county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
San Rafael, CA is strongly liberal.
Marin 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.
San Rafael, 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 San Rafael, CA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 42,419 contributions totaling $4,561,495 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $108 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,205 contributions totaling $1,210,273 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $378 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)