Rutland, Vermont is a small city with a population of just over 16,000 people. The city is governed by an elected mayor and members of the Board of Aldermen who are responsible for carrying out the policies of the city. Local elections for mayor and Board of Aldermen take place every two years. There are three political parties in Rutland: Republican, Democrat and Progressive. Each party puts forth its own set of candidates for local office during the election process. All citizens are encouraged to participate in local politics by voting in elections and engaging with their representatives on matters affecting their community. In recent years, Rutland has seen an increase in civic engagement as more citizens have become invested in their local politics. This has resulted in increased transparency and accountability from elected officials at all levels of government and greater satisfaction among Rutland residents in their local leaders.
The political climate in Rutland, VT is leaning liberal.
Rutland County, VT is somewhat liberal. In Rutland County, VT 53.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 43.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Rutland county remained strongly Democratic, 53.7% to 43.2%.
Rutland county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Rutland, VT is leaning liberal.
Rutland County, Vermont is somewhat liberal.
Rutland Metro Area 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.
Rutland, Vermont: 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 Rutland, VT
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,290 contributions totaling $89,820 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $70 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 115 contributions totaling $16,336 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $142 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)