Benton County, Oregon, is a vibrant area with a rich political history. Located on the Oregon Coast, the county has traditionally been politically moderate but recently has become more progressive in its beliefs. Local elections are held every two years for several positions, including county commissioners and representatives in the state legislature. In addition to local offices, Benton County residents also elect representatives to Congress and statewide office holders such as governor and attorney general. The county is home to several independent organizations that focus on issues such as environmental protection, affordable housing, public transportation and education reform. Community engagement is high in the area with plenty of opportunities for citizens to get involved in local politics by attending open forums or volunteering for campaigns. Despite its small size, Benton County has seen many important changes take place in recent years due to its strong political presence.
The political climate in Benton County, OR is very liberal.
In Benton County, OR 67.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 28.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 4.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Benton county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 67.9% to 28.2%.
Benton county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Benton County, OR is very liberal.
Corvallis Metro Area is very liberal.
Oregon is moderately 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.
Benton, Oregon: 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 Benton County, OR
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 17,467 contributions totaling $1,206,328 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $69 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,208 contributions totaling $181,693 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $150 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)