Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is a city located in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. Like most cities in the United States, Bethlehem has a form of local government that is designed to manage and serve the needs of its citizens. In Bethlehem, there is a Mayor-Council system with seven council members that are elected for four year terms. The Mayor serves a four-year term and is responsible for creating and implementing policy initiatives. Additionally, there are several other local political offices such as City Controller, City Clerk, City Treasurer, and Chief of Police. These offices are filled by independent candidates who run at large or within the district they want to represent. Each election cycle provides an opportunity for residents to engage in the political process by choosing candidates that best represent their values and interests. All citizens have the right to voice their opinion on any issue facing Bethlehem and can work together to create positive changes locally
The political climate in Bethlehem, PA is leaning liberal.
Northampton County, PA is leaning liberal. In Northampton County, PA 49.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 48.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Northampton county flipped narrowly Democratic, 49.6% to 48.9%.
Northampton county flipped back to Democratic in the most recent Presidential election, after voting Republican in 2016.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Bethlehem, PA is leaning liberal.
Northampton County, Pennsylvania is leaning liberal.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Pennsylvania is leaning 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.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: d d D d r 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 Bethlehem, PA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 12,266 contributions totaling $3,329,850 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $271 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,684 contributions totaling $4,882,256 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,325 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)