Athens-Clarke County, Georgia is one of the most politically diverse areas in the United States. It is home to a number of political parties and organizations, including Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, and several other independent groups. The county is represented in Congress by Representative Jody Hice (R-GA), who was elected in 2020. Additionally, there are numerous local government representation opportunities for residents of the county. The Mayor and Commission serve as Athens-Clarke County’s governing body and determine what laws will be adopted as well as how taxes will be used to fund public services such as education and public safety. Additionally, the Athens-Clarke County Board of Education oversees public school operations and serves as an important voice for parents and students. With all these resources available to citizens of Athens-Clarke County, it is easy to see why it is so politically active and diverse.
The political climate in Athens-Clarke County, GA is strongly liberal.
Clarke County, GA is very liberal. In Clarke County, GA 70.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 28.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Clarke county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 70.1% to 28.1%.
Clarke county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Athens-Clarke County, GA is strongly liberal.
Clarke County, Georgia is very liberal.
Athens-Clarke County Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
Georgia is leaning 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.
Athens-Clarke County, Georgia: 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 Athens-Clarke County, GA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 26,755 contributions totaling $1,660,380 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $62 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,051 contributions totaling $1,275,591 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $418 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)