The politics of Sanford, ME are rooted in the values of its citizens. The focus is on the local issues that affect the community's quality of life and investments in its infrastructure. Many locals have pushed for greater public transportation options, improved infrastructure projects, and support for small businesses. The city currently has an open town meeting form of government, with a mayor-council system to decide municipal decisions. Municipal elections are held every two years; most recently, there were three candidates running for mayor in 2019. Candidates put forth their vision for how to lead Sanford into the future and residents get to vote their choice into office. It is important to note that population size does not play a role in determining who runs for office or who gets elected; it's all about connecting with the individuals in Sanford and understanding what they value as a community.
The political climate in Sanford, ME is leaning liberal.
York County, ME is somewhat liberal. In York County, ME 54.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 42.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, York county remained strongly Democratic, 54.9% to 42.3%.
York county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Sanford, ME is leaning liberal.
York County, Maine is somewhat liberal.
Portland-South Portland Metro Area is strongly liberal.
Maine is somewhat 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.
Sanford, Maine: 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 Sanford, ME
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,831 contributions totaling $142,775 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $50 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 628 contributions totaling $67,270 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $107 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)