Gowanda, NY is a small rural town located in Cattaraugus County. Despite its size, the town has an active political scene with many different perspectives and ideas represented among elected officials. The local government consists of a mayor, four councilmembers, and a number of other departments and positions that work together to serve the community. Every year, the town holds elections for these positions which attract a diverse field of candidates from both major parties as well as independent candidates who are passionate about improving their community. Local organizations such as the Gowanda Chamber of Commerce also often take part in local politics to ensure that the town's best interests are taken into account when decisions are made. With such an engaged political atmosphere, Gowanda is a great place for anyone looking to get involved in local politics or just learn more about how government works on a grass roots level.
The political climate in Gowanda, NY is somewhat conservative.
Cattaraugus County, NY is strongly conservative. In Cattaraugus County, NY 34.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 63.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Cattaraugus county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 63.7% to 34.2%.
Cattaraugus county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Gowanda, NY is somewhat conservative.
Cattaraugus County, New York is strongly conservative.
Olean Metro Area is strongly conservative.
New York is moderately 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.
Gowanda, New York: R 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 Gowanda, NY
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 128 contributions totaling $13,950 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $109 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 64 contributions totaling $14,132 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $221 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)