Gilford, NH is a small town located in Belknap County. Located close to the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, it has a population of 5,400 people. The town operates under a selectman-town meeting form of government and their local government consists of five Board of Selectmen members who are responsible for budgeting and major policy decisions. As for politics in Gilford, the local voters are mainly conservative and support Republican candidates in elections. The Republican party has held a majority on the Board of Selectmen since 1998. In past elections, residents have voted overwhelmingly for Republican nominees for state offices like Governor and US Congressmen. This trend is expected to continue into future elections as the town continues to uphold its conservative values.
The political climate in Gilford, NH is somewhat conservative.
Belknap County, NH is somewhat conservative. In Belknap County, NH 43.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 54.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Belknap county remained strongly Republican, 54.3% to 43.9%.
Belknap county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Gilford, NH is somewhat conservative.
Belknap County, New Hampshire is somewhat conservative.
Laconia Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
New Hampshire is leaning 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.
Gilford, New Hampshire: R R d 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 Gilford, NH
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,684 contributions totaling $118,142 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $70 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 588 contributions totaling $130,374 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $222 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)