Salem, NH is a residential town located in Rockingham County. It has a small population of approximately 33,000 people and is known for its suburban charm. The town's politics are heavily influenced by the state legislature, as Salem falls within the large Merrimack Valley region. Local elections involve candidates from both major parties competing to represent the community in various roles including Selectmen and School Board members. Salem works hard to ensure that its citizens have access to their elected representatives and local leaders are committed to working with residents on pertinent issues affecting the area. With this in mind, there are many opportunities for Salem’s citizens to stay informed about the current state of affairs and participate in their community’s political process.
The political climate in Salem, NH is leaning conservative.
Rockingham County, NH is leaning liberal. In Rockingham County, NH 50.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 48.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Rockingham county flipped narrowly Democratic, 50.2% to 48.1%.
Rockingham county flipped Democratic in 2020, after voting Republican in four of the last six Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Salem, NH is leaning conservative.
Rockingham County, New Hampshire is leaning liberal.
Boston-Cambridge-Newton Metro Area is very liberal.
New Hampshire is leaning 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.
Salem, New Hampshire: r r d 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 Salem, NH
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,220 contributions totaling $226,650 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $102 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 436 contributions totaling $167,692 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $385 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)