Kanawha County, West Virginia is a vibrant community with a strong political landscape. The county is home to the state capital of Charleston, and as such, has been involved in numerous political activities over the years. The county has had many high profile politicians, including Governor Jim Justice and U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, who both serve in elected office today. Other influential members of the local government include County Commission President Kent Carper and Kanawha County Democratic Chair Belinda Biafore. These representatives have been integral in making sure the policies and regulations passed in Kanawha County reflect the values of its citizens while also striving to create an environment where businesses can thrive.
The political climate in Kanawha County, WV is somewhat conservative.
In Kanawha County, WV 41.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 56.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Kanawha county remained strongly Republican, 56.4% to 41.8%.
Kanawha county voted Republican in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Kanawha County, WV is somewhat conservative.
Charleston Metro Area is moderately conservative.
West Virginia is very conservative.
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.
Kanawha, West Virginia: d 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 Kanawha County, WV
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 7,565 contributions totaling $1,092,258 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $144 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 2,017 contributions totaling $2,284,527 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,133 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)