Rochester, NY is a vibrant and growing city with a rich history of political engagement. From grassroots activism to major elections at the local, state, and national level, Rochester has long been an important political player in New York State. Currently, there are several active organizations and initiatives engaging in advocacy for issues such as racial justice and economic equity. In addition to these activist initiatives, Rochester also boasts many elected officials representing the city at all levels of government. These include representatives from the City Council, County Legislature, State Assembly, and Congress. Moreover, every two years voters have the opportunity to elect a mayor who serves as Rochester's chief executive officer. As the city continues to grow its political influence and visibility in New York State politics, citizens will continue to have an important voice in shaping Rochester’s future.
The political climate in Rochester, NY is strongly liberal.
Monroe County, NY is moderately liberal. In Monroe County, NY 59.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 38.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Monroe county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 59.3% to 38.2%.
Monroe county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Rochester, NY is strongly liberal.
Monroe County, New York is moderately liberal.
Rochester Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
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.
Rochester, New York: 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 Rochester, NY
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 26,532 contributions totaling $2,155,805 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $81 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 2,472 contributions totaling $1,116,854 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $452 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)