Welch, West Virginia is located in McDowell County in the southwestern part of the state. The county has a long and rich history of mining and coal production, which still plays an important role in the local economy today. As such, politics in Welch are heavily influenced by issues related to energy policy, employment, and other economic concerns. Local political parties are quite active in Welch and often feature a range of candidates representing both sides of the political aisle. Candidates discuss topics such as job creation incentives, education funding, environmental protection plans, and renewable energy sources that will help keep local energy costs low. Voters from Welch take these topics very seriously when considering whom to elect into office and what laws will be made for their community.
The political climate in Welch, WV is moderately conservative.
McDowell County, WV is very conservative. In McDowell County, WV 20.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 78.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 0.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, McDowell county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 78.9% to 20.4%.
McDowell county voted Republican in three most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous three.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Welch, WV is moderately conservative.
McDowell County, West Virginia 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.
Welch, West Virginia: D D d 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 Welch, WV
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 42 contributions totaling $1,472 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $35 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 11 contributions totaling $1,924 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $175 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)