Reading, MA is a small town located in Middlesex county with a population of around 24,000 people. It has a town hall and Town Meeting where citizens can be involved in the local political process. There is also an elected Board of Selectmen that governs the town and makes decisions on behalf of its residents. The local elections for Reading are held each year, with voters selecting members to serve on the Board of Selectmen, as well as other elected positions within the municipality such as Town Clerk, Treasurer and Assessor. Candidates for these positions come from all walks of life and range from local business owners to retired municipal workers. Issues addressed by these candidates during the election season include taxes, infrastructure improvements, public safety measures, education funding and much more. As a result of this system of democracy, Reading is able to ensure that its citizens are properly represented when it comes to making decisions about their community’s future.
The political climate in Reading, MA is moderately liberal.
Middlesex County, MA is very liberal. In Middlesex County, MA 71.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 26.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Middlesex county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 71.5% to 26.3%.
Middlesex county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Reading, MA is moderately liberal.
Middlesex County, Massachusetts is very liberal.
Boston-Cambridge-Newton Metro Area is very 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.
Reading, 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 Reading, MA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 4,966 contributions totaling $333,838 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $67 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 496 contributions totaling $212,904 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $429 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)