Salida, Colorado is a small yet vibrant city located in the beautiful Upper Arkansas Valley. The city boasts a rich history and culture that is reflected in their local politics. Salida operates with a Mayor-Council form of government, which consists of a mayor elected at large as well as six council members who are elected from each of their districts throughout the city. The current mayor is Joe “Chub” Fuentes, and the City Council members include David Cusco, John Reeder, Alan Mossberger, Laurie Duryea, Mollie Tarnoff, and Jim Smith. As part of their commitment to serving the community, all local politicians in Salida strive to make decisions that will have a positive impact on the citizens of the city. This includes making sure the city has strong infrastructure and public services as well as promoting economic growth through job creation and development initiatives. Additionally, they work to ensure that there are plenty of recreational activities for residents to enjoy while still preserving the natural environment around them.
The political climate in Salida, CO is leaning liberal.
Chaffee County, CO is leaning liberal. In Chaffee County, CO 52.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 45.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Chaffee county flipped moderately Democratic, 52.2% to 45.4%.
Chaffee county flipped Democratic in 2020, after voting Republican in four of the last six Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Salida, CO is leaning liberal.
Chaffee County, Colorado is leaning liberal.
Colorado is somewhat 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.
Salida, Colorado: R R r d r 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 Salida, CO
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,772 contributions totaling $135,180 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $76 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 85 contributions totaling $12,349 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $145 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)