Barnwell, SC is a small town with a population of around 4,000 people. It has the typical local government structure of a mayor and city council governing the community. The current mayor is Joe Young, who was just re-elected in 2020 to serve his second term. The city council consists of five members who are elected officials serving four-year terms. They are responsible for representing the interests of their constituents and making important decisions that affect the citizens of Barnwell. The political climate in Barnwell is generally conservative, but there is an openness to differing views on certain issues. Local elections tend to be hotly contested, with many residents actively engaged in the political process. There is a strong sense of civic pride in Barnwell, and residents take pride in their hometown and its history.
The political climate in Barnwell, SC is leaning conservative.
Barnwell County, SC is leaning conservative. In Barnwell County, SC 45.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 53.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Barnwell county remained moderately Republican, 53.2% to 45.7%.
Barnwell county voted Republican in four of the six previous Presidential elections (2008 and 2012 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Barnwell, SC is leaning conservative.
Barnwell County, South Carolina is leaning conservative.
South Carolina is somewhat 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.
Barnwell, South Carolina: R r 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 Barnwell, SC
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 82 contributions totaling $17,092 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $208 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 73 contributions totaling $56,382 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $772 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)