Orleans County, Vermont is a rural county with a population of approximately 27,000. It has several small towns and villages spread throughout its landscape. The area is governed by a three-member Board of Commissioners that are elected from the county at large. The board sets policy for the county and oversees its various departments. The county is also represented in the state legislature by two senators and one representative. Local elections are held every two years for these positions as well as several other offices such as sheriff, judge, school board members, and town councilors. In addition to those positions, Orleans County also elects delegates to represent it in regional forums like the New England Council and the Vermont Senate. Residents of Orleans County have a variety of political views and interests but generally focus on issues related to economic development, education, public safety, transportation infrastructure, land use planning, conservation efforts, and providing quality services for citizens. When it comes to local politics in Orleans County, citizens express their views on these topics through their elected representatives and in local elections.
The political climate in Orleans County, VT is leaning liberal.
In Orleans County, VT 50.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 46.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Orleans county remained Democratic, 50.7% to 46.2%.
Orleans county voted Democratic in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Republican in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Orleans County, VT is leaning liberal.
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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.
Orleans, Vermont: r 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 Orleans County, VT
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,720 contributions totaling $192,358 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $71 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 91 contributions totaling $15,872 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $174 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)