The city of Kent, OH is a thriving town located in northeast Ohio. As the county seat of Portage County, Kent is home to a population of more than 30,000 people and is an integral part of the region's economy. The city has a robust local government which is responsible for providing many vital services to its citizens. Local politics in Kent are largely focused around the mayor and council members who are elected every four years through popular vote. Currently, Mayor Jerry Fiala holds office and is supported by several council members from all parts of the city. In addition to governing the city, these local officials work together with state representatives and other political leaders to ensure that the needs of Kent residents are met. They also strive to make sure that Kent remains a safe and progressive place to live, work, and play.
The political climate in Kent, OH is leaning liberal.
Portage County, OH is somewhat conservative. In Portage County, OH 43.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 55.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Portage county remained strongly Republican, 55.4% to 43.0%.
Portage county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Kent, OH is leaning liberal.
Portage County, Ohio is somewhat conservative.
Akron Metro Area is leaning liberal.
Ohio is leaning conservative.
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.
Kent, Ohio: 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 Kent, OH
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3,575 contributions totaling $205,521 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $57 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 229 contributions totaling $49,658 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $217 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)