Portsmouth City is the independent city located in the southeastern part of Virginia, and is an important part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. Politically, Portsmouth City is home to a variety of elected officials that serve both local and state levels. At the local level, a Mayor and six City Council members are elected by Portsmouth’s citizens. In addition, two State Senate representatives and eight members of the House of Delegates serve as Portsmouth’s voice in Richmond. Ultimately, all politics in Portsmouth City fall under the jurisdiction of Virginia County government. As such, all political decisions made at any level are subject to County approval before they can take effect in Portsmouth City.
The political climate in Portsmouth City County, VA is very liberal.
In Portsmouth City County, VA 69.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 28.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Portsmouth city county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 69.4% to 28.6%.
Portsmouth city county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Portsmouth City County, VA is very liberal.
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metro Area is moderately 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.
Portsmouth City, 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 Portsmouth City County, VA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,901 contributions totaling $119,778 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $63 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 299 contributions totaling $54,075 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $181 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)