Riverside County is located in Southern California and is one of the most populous counties in the state. Politics in Riverside County are highly contested as a result of its diverse population which includes people from all walks of life. Elections are heavily contested, with both Democratic and Republican candidates battling for majority representation in local government offices such as the Board of Supervisors, City Councils, and Mayorships. In recent years, there has been a push for progressive policies and greater inclusion of minority voices among political candidates. The county also maintains an active presence within state-wide politics as well, with several senators currently being elected from the area. With such vibrant political activity, Riverside County provides an interesting arena to observe the democratic process.
The political climate in Riverside County, CA is leaning liberal.
In Riverside County, CA 53.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 45.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Riverside county remained moderately Democratic, 53.0% to 45.0%.
Riverside county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Riverside County, CA is leaning liberal.
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
California is strongly 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.
Riverside, California: 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 Riverside County, CA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 100,988 contributions totaling $8,811,541 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $87 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 23,001 contributions totaling $8,257,641 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $359 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)