Staten Island is a borough of New York City, and as such, is involved in the city's political process. Residents of Staten Island have the opportunity to be part of a vibrant local political scene with many candidates running for various offices. The local political landscape includes candidates from both major parties – Republicans and Democrats – as well as independent candidates. Political discussion often centers around issues which are important to Staten Islanders, such as transportation, public safety, education, economic development and environmental protection. There is also strong support for initiatives to reduce traffic congestion and help create jobs in the borough. Through their elected representatives in Congress and the state legislature, Staten Islanders have the ability to represent their interests in government at all levels.
The political climate in Staten Island, NY is leaning conservative.
Richmond County, NY is somewhat conservative. In Richmond County, NY 42.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 56.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Richmond (Staten Island) county remained strongly Republican, 56.9% to 42.0%.
Richmond (Staten Island) county voted Republican in 2020, 2016, 2008 and 2004, and Democratic in 2012 and 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Staten Island, NY is leaning conservative.
Richmond County, New York is somewhat conservative.
New York-Newark-Jersey City Metro Area is strongly 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.
Staten Island, New York: d R r 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 Staten Island, NY
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 15,870 contributions totaling $1,777,780 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $112 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 5,071 contributions totaling $1,577,961 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $311 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)