Sanford, FL is a vibrant city located in Central Florida. It has a diverse population with people from all walks of life. The political climate in Sanford is reflective of the diversity of the city, featuring both Republicans and Democrats as well as smaller independent third parties. In recent years, local elections for mayor and other key positions have been highly contested with candidate forums taking place throughout the city to give citizens an opportunity to hear each candidate’s views on issues facing the community. These forums often draw large crowds and reveal deep disagreements among the candidates on core issues such as public safety, economic development, and environmental protection. No matter who wins each election cycle, it is evident that Sanford residents are engaged and passionate about their local politics.
The political climate in Sanford, FL is leaning liberal.
Seminole County, FL is leaning liberal. In Seminole County, FL 50.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 47.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Seminole county flipped Democratic, 50.7% to 47.9%.
Seminole county flipped Democratic after voting Republican in the previous five Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Sanford, FL is leaning liberal.
Seminole County, Florida is leaning liberal.
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
Florida is leaning 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.
Sanford, Florida: R R r r 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 Sanford, FL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 5,127 contributions totaling $592,274 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $116 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,585 contributions totaling $833,564 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $526 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)