Sarasota, FL is a vibrant city with a diverse population and rich political landscape. The city has had a long history of electing both conservative and progressive candidates to its local political offices, including mayors, commissioners, and representatives in the state legislature. Recent elections have featured candidates from both major parties as well as third-party candidates competing for office. Sarasota voters have consistently favored candidates who focus on issues such as infrastructure improvements, economic development, environmental protection, and public safety. In terms of education policy, Sarasota county is known for its commitment to creating more equitable opportunities for all students regardless of their background or family income. With strong support from citizens across the political spectrum, Sarasota's local politics are sure to continue to be an exciting space for vibrant debate and meaningful decision-making in the years ahead.
The political climate in Sarasota, FL is leaning liberal.
Sarasota County, FL is somewhat conservative. In Sarasota County, FL 44.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 54.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Sarasota county remained strongly Republican, 54.7% to 44.3%.
Sarasota county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Sarasota, FL is leaning liberal.
Sarasota County, Florida is somewhat conservative.
North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
Florida is leaning conservative.
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.
Sarasota, Florida: 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 Sarasota, FL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 28,271 contributions totaling $4,082,161 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $144 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 4,751 contributions totaling $4,187,959 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $881 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)