Elizabeth, NJ is a city in Union County with a rich history of political activism. It has had several mayors since its incorporation in 1855 and has been represented by both Republican and Democratic parties in the local government. The current mayor, Chris Bollwage, was elected in 1993 and is currently serving his fourth consecutive term. He is running for re-election this year alongside other candidates for the City Council, Board of Education, and Municipal Court. Residents have expressed enthusiasm for their wide range of candidates and the energy and commitment that they bring to local politics. With a population of 129,000 people, Elizabeth has a diverse array of opinions and backgrounds that result in lively debates at city council meetings. As the election approaches, it is clear that Elizabeth’s citizens take their civic responsibilities seriously, as they continue to work together towards creating meaningful change through their local government.
The political climate in Elizabeth, NJ is very liberal.
Union County, NJ is very liberal. In Union County, NJ 67.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 31.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Union county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 67.0% to 31.5%.
Union county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Elizabeth, NJ is very liberal.
Union County, New Jersey is very liberal.
New York-Newark-Jersey City Metro Area is strongly liberal.
New Jersey is somewhat 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.
Elizabeth, New Jersey: 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 Elizabeth, NJ
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 5,529 contributions totaling $341,133 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $62 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 337 contributions totaling $116,612 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $346 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)