Richmond, VA is the capital of Virginia and the county seat of Richmond County. The countys politics are heavily influenced by its close proximity to Washington, D.C. The county is represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by two Democrats, Abigail Spanberger and Donald McEachin, as well as two Republicans, Dave Brat and Rob Wittman. Richmond is home to the state legislature that is composed of an upper chamber (the Senate) and a lower chamber (the House of Delegates). Both chambers are controlled by a Republican majority, with a few Democratic members from Richmond also included in both chambers. Among local government, Richmond City Council consists of nine members appointed by Mayor Levar Stoney and serve four-year terms on behalf of their districts. City council members work together to develop policies that benefit all residents of the city. Overall, Richmond's politics are closely tied to those in Washington D.C., with representation from both political parties ensuring that all residents' voices are heard when it comes to local issues facing the county.
The political climate in Richmond County, VA is strongly conservative.
In Richmond County, VA 36.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 62.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Richmond county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 62.1% to 36.9%.
Richmond county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Richmond County, VA is strongly conservative.
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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.
Richmond, Virginia: R R R R 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 Richmond County, VA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 46 contributions totaling $8,965 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $195 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 48 contributions totaling $10,664 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $222 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)