Athol, MA is a small town located in the northwestern part of the state with a population of around 11,000 people. It is home to many local businesses and attractions and offers its residents a peaceful atmosphere in which to live. The politics in Athol are generally considered to be leaning towards more conservative views compared to larger cities in Massachusetts. The local government consists of an elected mayor and nine-member Town Council who work together to make decisions that concern residents and businesses within the area. Several organizations work together to keep citizens informed about important issues affecting them throughout the political process such as the Athol Area League of Women Voters, which educates voters on local upcoming elections and candidates. The town also hosts several debates between candidates for different positions during election seasons so that citizens can hear firsthand what each candidate has to offer before making their decision at the polls.
The political climate in Athol, MA is somewhat liberal.
Worcester County, MA is moderately liberal. In Worcester County, MA 57.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 39.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Worcester county remained very strongly Democratic, 57.6% to 39.7%.
Worcester county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Athol, MA is somewhat liberal.
Worcester County, Massachusetts is moderately liberal.
Worcester Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
Massachusetts is very 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.
Athol, Massachusetts: 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 Athol, MA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 715 contributions totaling $32,092 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $45 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 130 contributions totaling $16,491 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $127 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)