California, PA is a small town located in Pennsylvania with a population of approximately 6,000. The local government is run by a mayor and council system, where the mayor is elected by popular vote and the town council members are appointed by the mayor. The local political landscape is generally dominated by Democratic candidates, though there have been sporadic efforts on behalf of Republican candidates in recent years. Recent elections have seen an increase in voter turnout and political engagement from younger voters as well. With an engaged citizenry and a vibrant public discourse, California is set to continue being an active participant in the politics of Pennsylvania.
The political climate in California, PA is leaning conservative.
Washington County, PA is moderately conservative. In Washington County, PA 38.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 60.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Washington county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 60.7% to 38.0%.
Washington county voted Republican in the last four Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in 2000 and 2004.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
California, PA is leaning conservative.
Washington County, Pennsylvania is moderately conservative.
Pittsburgh 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.
California, Pennsylvania: d d r R 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 California, PA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 224 contributions totaling $12,168 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $54 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 83 contributions totaling $12,221 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $147 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)