Needham, MA is a town in Norfolk County, located just west of Boston. As of 2019, the estimated population of Needham was 31,000 people. The town has a rich history dating back to its incorporation in 1711 and is known for having excellent schools that consistently rank among the best in the state. On the political front, Needham is largely a Democratic stronghold with many residents strongly supporting progressive values. Local elections are typically competitive between Democratic and Republican candidates. The mayor of Needham is currently Charles J. Gaffney Jr., a Democrat who was elected to office in 2019 and will serve until 2023. The Town Council also holds five members which are all Democrats. In addition, Needham has sent Democrats to represent them on both the Massachusetts State Senate and House of Representatives since 1992.
The political climate in Needham, MA is somewhat liberal.
Norfolk County, MA is very liberal. In Norfolk County, MA 67.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 30.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Norfolk county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 67.0% to 30.7%.
Norfolk county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Needham, MA is somewhat liberal.
Norfolk County, Massachusetts is very liberal.
Boston-Cambridge-Newton Metro Area is very liberal.
Massachusetts is very 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.
Needham, Massachusetts: 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 Needham, MA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 8,246 contributions totaling $1,875,690 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $227 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 654 contributions totaling $309,907 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $474 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)