Arlington County, VA is an urban county located just outside of Washington, D.C. It is home to a rich political environment and culture with multiple political organizations and representatives. Arlington has a long history of progressive policies that have made it one of the most progressive counties in Virginia. One example of this progressiveness is the recent passage of an LGBTQ nondiscrimination policy by the Arlington County Board in 2019. This policy protects the rights of LGBTQ individuals living in Arlington from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The county also works diligently to promote voter registration and encourages citizen participation in local politics through various initiatives such as candidate forums and voter education events. Arlington County continues to be a leader in progressive politics on both state and national levels, providing a platform for meaningful political discourse that promotes greater inclusion and acceptance within its community.
The political climate in Arlington County, VA is very liberal.
In Arlington County, VA 80.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 17.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Arlington county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 80.6% to 17.1%.
Arlington county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Arlington County, VA is very liberal.
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metro Area is very liberal.
Virginia is somewhat 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.
Arlington, Virginia: 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 Arlington County, VA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 68,275 contributions totaling $15,169,843 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $222 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 13,287 contributions totaling $11,787,786 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $887 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)