Newport, Rhode Island is a vibrant coastal city known for its captivating colonial charm, breathtaking waterfront views, and rich history. With a population of around 24,000 people, Newport has always been an attractive place to live and visit. The current political landscape in Newport is represented by a variety of government bodies that serve the city’s residents. In 2019, the City of Newport held municipal elections for both mayor and city council positions. The Mayor of Newport is currently James J. Winquist Jr., who was elected in 2018. The seven-member City Council includes four at-large members, two ward representatives from the North End and South End districts, and one representative from the Harborfront district. The current City Council is responsible for passing legislation that affects the lives of all individuals living in Newport. Through their decisions on budgeting issues, as well as development projects within the city limits, they are able to shape the future of Newport while preserving its historic character.
The political climate in Newport, RI is moderately liberal.
Newport County, RI is strongly liberal. In Newport County, RI 63.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 34.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Newport county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 63.9% to 34.1%.
Newport county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Newport, RI is moderately liberal.
Newport County, Rhode Island is strongly 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.
Newport, 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 Newport, RI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 4,247 contributions totaling $681,960 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $161 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 515 contributions totaling $155,490 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $302 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)