St. Helena, California is a small city located in the northern part of Napa County, with a population of 5,814 according to the 2019 census. The city government consists of an elected five-member City Council which serves as the legislative branch and sets policy for the city. The City Council is further divided into two committees—Finance and Public Works—as well as various ad hoc committees such as Planning Commission and Economic Development Advisory Committee. St. Helena is also represented in local politics by representatives from both the Democratic and Republican parties. Every two years, voters are given a choice between candidates from each party for mayor, council members, and other positions such as sheriff and district attorney. During election time, issues such as public safety, infrastructure projects, economic development initiatives, environmental concerns, housing policies, and taxes are discussed among candidates running for office in order to address the needs of the citizens of St. Helena. Ultimately these conversations form the basis for policy decisions that shape St. Helena's future direction.
The political climate in St. Helena, CA is moderately liberal.
Napa County, CA is very liberal. In Napa County, CA 69.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 28.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Napa county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 69.0% to 28.7%.
Napa county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
St. Helena, CA is moderately liberal.
Napa County, California is very liberal.
Napa 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.
St. Helena, 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 St. Helena, CA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 4,234 contributions totaling $585,583 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $138 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 326 contributions totaling $92,362 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $283 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)