Harrisonburg, located in Virginia’s Rockingham County, is an independent city that operates under its own charter. Local politics are overseen by the Harrisonburg City Council, a six-member board elected to four-year terms. The mayor of Harrisonburg is chosen from the council members while other positions are filled through competitive elections. The council holds legislative authority and oversees operations of all city departments including the police and fire departments as well as Parks and Recreation. Key issues in local politics include economic development, public safety, infrastructure maintenance and growth management. Through zoning regulations, the city has maintained its residential character while also allowing for businesses to locate within its limits.
The political climate in Harrisonburg City County, VA is very liberal.
In Harrisonburg City County, VA 64.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 32.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Harrisonburg city county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 64.5% to 32.7%.
Harrisonburg city county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Harrisonburg City County, VA is very liberal.
Harrisonburg Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
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.
Harrisonburg City, Virginia: R R 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 Harrisonburg City County, VA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3,405 contributions totaling $263,267 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $77 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 790 contributions totaling $204,588 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $259 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)