Potsdam, NY is a small town located in St. Lawrence County in the state of New York. It has a rich history of politics and community involvement, which influences the way its citizens interact with each other and shows up in their day-to-day lives. The town has a mayor and six council members that serve on the village board, along with local committees that work to improve services for residents. Issues such as development, taxes, infrastructure, public safety and education are discussed at monthly meetings of the board that are open to the public. The mayor and council work together to ensure that Potsdam is both a safe and enjoyable place to live for all who call it home. As this tight-knit community continues to grow, so too does its political involvement and representation among its residents.
The political climate in Potsdam, NY is leaning conservative.
St. Lawrence County, NY is somewhat conservative. In St. Lawrence County, NY 43.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 54.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, St. Lawrence county remained strongly Republican, 54.8% to 43.1%.
St. Lawrence county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Potsdam, NY is leaning conservative.
St. Lawrence County, New York is somewhat conservative.
Ogdensburg-Massena Metro Area is somewhat 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.
Potsdam, New York: D D D D 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 Potsdam, NY
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 4,820 contributions totaling $342,729 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $71 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 219 contributions totaling $34,807 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $159 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)