Whatcom County, located in the northwest corner of Washington, is an area that prides itself on having a strong government. The county is led by a three-member Board of County Commissioners who are elected from geographical districts to represent the interests of their constituents. This board develops policy and makes decisions on issues such as land use, public safety, and transportation. In addition, each city within Whatcom County has its own city council which provides local governance and works with the county on larger-scale projects. Furthermore, Washington State legislators work to develop laws and regulations that apply to all citizens of the state. The citizens of Whatcom County take their political rights seriously and are active members in their local communities.
The political climate in Whatcom County, WA is strongly liberal.
In Whatcom County, WA 60.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 36.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Whatcom county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 60.4% to 36.4%.
Whatcom county voted Democratic in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Republican in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Whatcom County, WA is strongly liberal.
Bellingham Metro Area is strongly liberal.
Washington is moderately 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.
Whatcom, Washington: r 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 Whatcom County, WA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 30,478 contributions totaling $2,668,081 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $88 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 2,973 contributions totaling $635,072 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $214 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)