Exeter, Rhode Island is a small town located in Washington County with a population of just over 5,000 residents. Despite its size, it has an active political scene and a variety of local politicians who have held or are currently holding office. Most recently, incumbent Mark S. Weiner was re-elected as the Town Councilman At Large in November 2019. He has been involved in politics for many years, serving on multiple boards and committees including the June Rockwell Levy Foundation and the Exeter Historical Society. Other notable state representatives from Exeter are Representative Arthur Handy and Senator Dennis Algiere who both serve in the Rhode Island General Assembly. In addition to these elected officials, there are also other non-elected political figures that have had an influence on the local politics of Exeter such as community activists and non-profit organizations. All of these individuals contribute to creating a vibrant political environment in Exeter that helps shape the future of this small town.
The political climate in Exeter, RI is leaning liberal.
Washington County, RI is moderately liberal. In Washington County, RI 58.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 39.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Washington county remained very strongly Democratic, 58.6% to 39.2%.
Washington county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Exeter, RI is leaning liberal.
Washington County, Rhode Island is moderately liberal.
Providence-Warwick Metro Area is moderately liberal.
Rhode Island 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.
Exeter, Rhode Island: 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 Exeter, RI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,532 contributions totaling $181,172 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $118 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 162 contributions totaling $69,208 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $427 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)