Calais, Vermont, is a small rural town located between the towns of East Montpelier and Plainfield. It has a population of under 1,500 people and is known for its natural beauty and open spaces. In terms of local politics, Calais is governed by a selectboard which is comprised of five members elected every two years on Town Meeting Day in March. The board sets town policy and makes decisions that affect the day-to-day operations of the municipality. Additionally, residents vote to elect representatives to serve in the Vermont state legislature. As such, an important aspect of life in Calais is getting involved in the local political scene to ensure that community needs are met and that their voices are heard.
The political climate in Calais, VT is somewhat liberal.
Washington County, VT is very liberal. In Washington County, VT 71.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 25.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Washington county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 71.3% to 25.3%.
Washington county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Calais, VT is somewhat liberal.
Washington County, Vermont is very liberal.
Barre Metro Area is very 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.
Calais, Vermont: 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 Calais, VT
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3,260 contributions totaling $183,094 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $56 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 30 contributions totaling $5,554 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $185 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)