Watsonville, California is a vibrant and diverse city located in Santa Cruz County on the central coast of the state. The city boasts a thriving agricultural industry, as well as a wide variety of outdoor recreational activities. With a population of 54,158, Watsonville is an important political hub in the region. The City Council is composed of seven members who are elected to serve four-year terms. They oversee many aspects of local government including zoning laws, budgeting and public safety. Additionally, Watsonville has representatives at the state and federal level who advocate for local issues. Residents have the opportunity to be involved in their community’s politics by voting in elections or getting involved with their elected officials. By understanding their local political landscape and participating in the democratic process, residents can help shape the future of Watsonville.
The political climate in Watsonville, CA is strongly liberal.
Santa Cruz County, CA is very liberal. In Santa Cruz County, CA 78.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 18.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Santa Cruz county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 78.4% to 18.5%.
Santa Cruz county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Watsonville, CA is strongly liberal.
Santa Cruz County, California is very liberal.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville Metro Area is very liberal.
California is strongly 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.
Watsonville, California: 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 Watsonville, CA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 7,731 contributions totaling $634,725 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $82 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 686 contributions totaling $86,633 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $126 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)