The politics in Elkins, WV are heavily influenced by the values and ideals of its residents. Elkins, located in Randolph County, is a small city with a population of approximately 7,000 residents. It is known for its quaint downtown area and historic landmarks. The people of Elkins are mostly conservative and lean towards Republican candidates at the state and national level of government. In regards to local elections, Elkins residents have embraced candidates from all political ideologies across both major parties. This allows for an open dialogue on issues that affect their town such as economic development, public safety, and education. Although the citizens of Elkins typically lean to the right politically, they remain open-minded when it comes to discussing local issues and electing representatives who reflect their values.
The political climate in Elkins, WV is moderately conservative.
Randolph County, WV is very conservative. In Randolph County, WV 27.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 71.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Randolph county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 71.1% to 27.6%.
Randolph county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Elkins, WV is moderately conservative.
Randolph County, West Virginia is very conservative.
Elkins Metro Area is very conservative.
West Virginia is very 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.
Elkins, West Virginia: R R R R R R
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 Elkins, WV
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 987 contributions totaling $52,828 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $54 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 336 contributions totaling $64,102 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $191 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)