Charleston, SC County is an area known for its rich history and culture. With a population of nearly 425,000 people, the county is one of the larger cities in South Carolina. It is governed by a seven-member Charleston County Council, elected from districts within the county to serve four-year terms. The County Council has legislative authority over matters such as land use regulation, zoning laws, public safety, and infrastructure. Additionally, the County Council works with other local officials to ensure that services are provided effectively and efficiently for citizens. The current members of the County Council are: Vic Rawl (Chairman), Anna Johnson (Vice Chair), Elliott Summey, Henry Darby, Joe Qualey, Brantley Moody and Dickie Schweers. Each member brings diverse backgrounds and experiences to their role on the council which helps ensure a well-balanced approach to governing Charleston County.
The political climate in Charleston County, SC is somewhat liberal.
In Charleston County, SC 55.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 42.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Charleston county remained strongly Democratic, 55.5% to 42.6%.
Charleston county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Charleston County, SC is somewhat liberal.
Charleston-North Charleston Metro Area is leaning liberal.
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.
Charleston, South Carolina: r r 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 for the Democrat and I for the Independent. 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 Charleston County, SC
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 22,202 contributions totaling $3,358,764 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $151 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 7,002 contributions totaling $2,750,100 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $393 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)