The small town of West Rutland, Vermont is known for its strong sense of community and tight-knit culture. Political topics rarely come up in conversations, as most residents are content to live their lives without involving themselves in politics. Most people know who their local representatives are and know how the state government works, but they do not usually discuss political matters on a regular basis. While there are some active citizens who engage in local and state politics, many prefer to keep it out of their day-to-day lives and focus instead on the more immediate concerns that face them in their small town. The town’s low population also means that elections tend to be less competitive than those in larger cities across the state, making it difficult for candidates to make an impact on the local population. Local politicians often have good intentions but limited resources when it comes to making a significant difference in West Rutland's political landscape.
The political climate in West Rutland, VT is leaning conservative.
Rutland County, VT is somewhat liberal. In Rutland County, VT 53.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 43.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Rutland county remained strongly Democratic, 53.7% to 43.2%.
Rutland county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
West Rutland, VT is leaning conservative.
Rutland County, Vermont is somewhat liberal.
Rutland Metro Area is somewhat 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.
West Rutland, 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 West Rutland, VT
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 538 contributions totaling $24,918 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $46 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 45 contributions totaling $4,781 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $106 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)