The politics of Island Heights, NJ are relatively low-key and community-focused. The town is governed by a Mayor-Council form of government, in which the mayor is elected directly by residents of the town. The Borough Council consists of six members who are elected to serve three-year terms. These elected officials make decisions on issues such as local ordinances, budgets, public works projects, providing services and land use regulations. There is also an appointed municipal manager who handles day-to-day operations and advice to the town’s mayor and council. Community engagement is an important part of Island Heights' political process; the residents regularly attend meetings and have an opportunity to speak their minds during public comment periods. The Borough Council also holds workshops with citizens to discuss proposed changes or regulations. Overall, politics in Island Heights are transparent and collaborative, allowing everyone in the community to be involved in decision making processes that impact their lives.
The political climate in Island Heights, NJ is moderately conservative.
Ocean County, NJ is strongly conservative. In Ocean County, NJ 34.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 63.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Ocean county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 63.5% to 34.9%.
Ocean county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Island Heights, NJ is moderately conservative.
Ocean County, New Jersey is strongly conservative.
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.
Island Heights, New Jersey: 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 Island Heights, NJ
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,636 contributions totaling $169,578 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $104 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 576 contributions totaling $273,711 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $475 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)