Carlsbad, CA is a small but vibrant city located in San Diego County. This coastal town is known for its beautiful beaches and unique attractions, such as the LEGOLAND Amusement Park. Although Carlsbad may be small in terms of population size, it still has a strong political presence. The City Council consists of five members who are elected at-large every two years to four-year terms. Additionally, the city’s mayor is also chosen by popular vote every two years and serves a four-year term. The Mayor acts like a CEO and represents the entire city. They work with members of the City Council to make decisions on issues that affect the future of Carlsbad such as transportation, land use, economic development, and public safety. All politicians in Carlsbad focus on making sure residents have access to resources and services they need while ensuring that local businesses continue to thrive.
The political climate in Carlsbad, CA is somewhat liberal.
San Diego County, CA is moderately liberal. In San Diego County, CA 60.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 37.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, San Diego county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 60.2% to 37.5%.
San Diego county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Carlsbad, CA is somewhat liberal.
San Diego County, California is moderately liberal.
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad Metro Area is moderately 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.
Carlsbad, California: r r 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 Carlsbad, CA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 41,794 contributions totaling $4,056,101 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $97 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 7,934 contributions totaling $2,419,382 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $305 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)