Politics in Chester, CT are an important part of the town's culture. The town is home to a wide variety of political ideologies and perspectives, making it a unique place to live and work.The town is represented in the CT State House of Representatives by State Representative John J. Frey, Jr., and in the CT Senate by Senator Steve Cassano. Current local politics focuses on issues such as education, infrastructure, economic development, and environmental protection. The town has many active boards and commissions that work together to help shape its future including the Chester Planning & Zoning Commission, Board of Selectmen, Conservation Commission, Economic Development Commission, Inland Wetlands Agency Board, Town & Public Safety Committee, and Zoning Board of Appeals. These bodies provide residents with an opportunity to participate in shaping policies that impact their lives and their community.
The political climate in Chester, CT is leaning liberal.
Middlesex County, CT is moderately liberal. In Middlesex County, CT 57.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Middlesex county remained very strongly Democratic, 57.3% to 41.0%.
Middlesex county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Chester, CT is leaning liberal.
Middlesex County, Connecticut is moderately liberal.
Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown Metro Area is strongly liberal.
Connecticut is moderately 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.
Chester, Connecticut: 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 Chester, CT
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3,152 contributions totaling $200,910 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $64 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 104 contributions totaling $39,250 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $377 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)