Ridgecrest, CA is a small city in the Mojave Desert with a population of around 28,500 people. It operates under a council-manager form of government. The City Council is composed of five members elected from four individual wards and the mayor who is elected at-large. Elections for all offices are held every two years and residents are encouraged to participate in local politics by voting for the best candidate for each position. Recent initiatives include the adoption of a General Plan that focuses on energy efficiency, promoting sustainable development, and encouraging responsible land use management. Ridgecrest is also currently working on addressing the need for more affordable housing within the community. Throughout its history, Ridgecrest has been committed to preserving its unique identity while embracing new ideas and opportunities for growth.
The political climate in Ridgecrest, CA is leaning conservative.
Kern County, CA is somewhat conservative. In Kern County, CA 43.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 53.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Kern county remained strongly Republican, 53.9% to 43.7%.
Kern county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Ridgecrest, CA is leaning conservative.
Kern County, California is somewhat conservative.
Bakersfield Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
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.
Ridgecrest, California: 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 Ridgecrest, CA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,121 contributions totaling $84,334 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $75 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 433 contributions totaling $66,506 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $154 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)