Salem City is located in VA County and is home to a diverse population of people with varying political views. Local politics are made up of county officials, such as the Sheriff, Commonwealth’s Attorney, Board of Supervisors, and others who work together to ensure the city’s stability. These officials are elected by local residents in order to represent their interests and protect the well-being of Salem City. Beyond these elected officials, there are numerous candidates from different parties that seek office in VA County each election cycle. By engaging with local issues and attending forums hosted by local organizations, Salem City residents have the opportunity to learn more about each candidate’s platform and make a decision at the ballot box when it comes time to vote. Through their choices, citizens play an important role in shaping the politics of their community.
The political climate in Salem City County, VA is moderately conservative.
In Salem City County, VA 39.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 58.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Salem city county remained very strongly Republican, 58.9% to 39.4%.
Salem city county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Salem City County, VA is moderately conservative.
Roanoke 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.
Salem City, 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 Salem City County, VA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 686 contributions totaling $111,664 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $163 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 592 contributions totaling $139,533 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $236 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)