Hampden County is located in the western part of Massachusetts and is one of the 14 original counties of the Commonwealth. It has a rich political history, with strong representation from both major parties. Democrats have traditionally been the dominant force in the county, while Republicans have seen success in certain areas over the past few decades. The county's state senators are all Democrats, as are most of its members of the House of Representatives. Hampden County has been home to many significant politicians over the years, including current U.S. Senator Edward Markey and former governor William Weld. Local elections are often hotly contested, with candidates from both sides vying for important positions such as Sheriff and District Attorney. The issues at stake in these races often reflect those that affect people across Massachusetts, with a particular focus on economic development and social justice concerns. With an engaged electorate and strong representation from both parties, Hampden County is sure to remain a politically relevant area for years to come.
The political climate in Hampden County, MA is moderately liberal.
In Hampden County, MA 57.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 40.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Hampden county remained very strongly Democratic, 57.7% to 40.0%.
Hampden county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Hampden County, MA is moderately liberal.
Springfield Metro Area is strongly liberal.
Massachusetts 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.
Hampden, Massachusetts: 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 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 Hampden County, MA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 17,383 contributions totaling $1,127,170 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $65 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 2,121 contributions totaling $377,393 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $178 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)