Essex, VT County is located in northwestern Vermont and is home to a vibrant political atmosphere. The county is governed by a three-member board of commissioners, each elected to serve a two-year term. The board works on behalf of the citizens of Essex County to set policy and monitor budgeting. In addition to the board of commissioners, local politics are shaped by the mayor of Essex Town, who is elected every four years. Local elections for both the board of commissioners and the town mayor draw tremendous engagement throughout Essex County as candidates focus on issues important to their constituents, such as public safety, economic development, and infrastructure projects. Residents in Essex County take pride in their democratic process and are passionate about having their voices heard at the local level.
The political climate in Essex County, VT is somewhat conservative.
In Essex County, VT 42.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 53.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Essex county remained strongly Republican, 53.9% to 42.7%.
Essex county voted Republican in four of the six previous Presidential elections (2008 and 2012 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Essex County, VT is somewhat conservative.
Berlin Metro Area is leaning 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.
Essex, Vermont: R R D D R R
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 Essex County, VT
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 511 contributions totaling $58,643 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $115 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 25 contributions totaling $6,992 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $280 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)