Olean, NY is a small city located in Western New York. The politics of Olean involve various local officials and representatives who are focused on improving the quality of life for citizens. Olean's government is organized into several different branches which include the City Council, Mayor’s office, and other public service departments. The City Council consists of five elected members that meet regularly to discuss and determine policies related to matters such as taxes, budgeting, public safety, infrastructure improvement projects and more. The Mayor’s office ensures that all decisions made by the City Council are implemented and that all city services are running efficiently. Additionally, the Mayor works with other politicians at state and federal levels to ensure that Olean receives necessary funds from the government for educational institutions, parks, health services and transportation systems. Furthermore, there are many political offices dedicated to providing resources for Olean residents including county offices for government services such as licensing and voter registration. Ultimately, Olean's political landscape is dedicated to providing a better quality of life for its citizens regardless of their race or socioeconomic status.
The political climate in Olean, 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
Olean, 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.
Olean, 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 Olean, NY
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 382 contributions totaling $28,223 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $74 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 116 contributions totaling $26,491 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $228 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)