Benton County, WA is a great place to live with its bustling cities and rural communities alike. It has a rich political culture that varies depending on where you are located in the county. Local politics in the area are dominated by the Democratic Party, who typically hold several positions in the county government. The local candidates running for office stem from both parties and put forth interesting perspectives on how to best manage the county’s resources and services. Many elections have been decided by just a few votes as Benton County residents take part in lively debates over which candidate will best represent their interests. As issues such as education, healthcare, taxes, and infrastructure grow increasingly important in Benton County, voters have the opportunity to make sure their voice is heard during every election cycle.
The political climate in Benton County, WA is moderately conservative.
In Benton County, WA 37.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 58.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Benton county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 58.6% to 37.6%.
Benton county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Benton County, WA is moderately conservative.
Kennewick-Richland Metro Area is moderately conservative.
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.
Benton, Washington: 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 Benton County, WA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 9,558 contributions totaling $670,752 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $70 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,142 contributions totaling $685,844 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $218 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)