Newport, RI County is a vibrant and diverse region of the state, with a wide range of political views represented. The county has elected both Republican and Democratic candidates to local office in recent years, including mayors and town council members. Beyond that, there are many more community organizations and advocacy groups involved in influencing local politics in Newport. These organizations range from civic associations, environmental protection agencies, and even grassroots campaigns aiming to make an impact on local politics through social media campaigns and other types of outreach. As such, there is a wide array of political viewpoints held by constituents throughout the county, making it one of the most unique regions in all of Rhode Island when it comes to politics.
The political climate in Newport County, RI is strongly liberal.
In Newport County, RI 63.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 34.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Newport county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 63.9% to 34.1%.
Newport county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Newport County, RI is strongly liberal.
Providence-Warwick Metro Area is moderately liberal.
Rhode Island 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.
Newport, Rhode Island: 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 Newport County, RI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 9,827 contributions totaling $1,966,830 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $200 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,067 contributions totaling $326,915 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $306 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)