Holden, MA is a small town in the Central Massachusetts area. It has a local political system that consists of a select board, consisting of five members and a Town Moderator. Each member is elected to serve three year terms and they are responsible for overseeing all aspects of the town's government and finances. The Select Board also appoints a Town Administrator who works with the department heads to manage day-to-day operations. As far as local politics go, the residents of Holden take an active role in determining their leadership; they make sure to elect representatives who share their values and interests. Issues discussed at the monthly meetings range from budget matters, public safety initiatives, land use ordinances, and more. All decisions made by the Select Board are done so with consideration for what is best for Holden as a whole.
The political climate in Holden, MA is leaning 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
Holden, MA is leaning 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.
Holden, 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 Holden, MA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,026 contributions totaling $131,126 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $65 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 205 contributions totaling $27,084 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $132 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)