Whitesburg, Kentucky is a small rural town located in Letcher County. The county is home to just over 24,000 people and is well known for its coal mining history. Politically, Letcher County has been traditionally Democratic with the exception of the past few presidential elections when they voted for Donald Trump. On the local level, Democrats hold most of the offices however there are some Republicans elected as well. Many of the current local candidates are advocating for more job opportunities, improved education, and better access to healthcare in the area. In recent years, grassroots efforts have been underway to combat poverty and create a prosperous future for all who call Letcher County home.
The political climate in Whitesburg, KY is strongly conservative.
Letcher County, KY is very conservative. In Letcher County, KY 19.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 79.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Letcher county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 79.1% to 19.7%.
Letcher county voted Republican in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Whitesburg, KY is strongly conservative.
Letcher County, Kentucky is very conservative.
Kentucky is strongly 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.
Whitesburg, Kentucky: d 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 Whitesburg, KY
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 60 contributions totaling $6,769 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $113 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 43 contributions totaling $30,061 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $699 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)