Worcester, MA is a small city located in central Massachusetts. It is the second-largest city in the state and home to almost 200,000 people. Politics in Worcester have been heavily influenced by its proximity to Boston and other major cities in the region. The Worcester City Council is comprised of 13 members elected at-large, with each member representing all of Worcester’s residents regardless of their ward or precinct. This allows for a more equitable representation of all citizens and ensures that everyone's viewpoint is taken into account when making decisions about the city. There are also a number of state representatives from Worcester who serve on Beacon Hill and advocate for constituents' interests throughout the state. In addition, there are several mayoral elections every few years, as well as regular municipal elections that occur to select council members and other local elected officials. With such robust civic engagement, Worcester continues to be an important part of Massachusetts politics both locally and statewide.
The political climate in Worcester, MA is moderately 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
Worcester, MA is moderately 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.
Worcester, 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 Worcester, MA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 11,279 contributions totaling $850,219 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $75 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,303 contributions totaling $283,656 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $218 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)