Clay, West Virginia is a small town located in Clay County. With a population of roughly 7,000 people, it is an important part of the local community. The political dynamics in the county are represented by three main entities: The Clay County Commission, The Clay County Sheriff's Office and The Clay County Courthouse. All three organizations strive to ensure the best possible services for the citizens of Clay County. Every two years, local elections are held to elect representatives for each of these organizations. Each candidate must demonstrate their commitment to upholding the values and policies that will benefit all residents of Clay County. In addition to the elected officials, many members of the local community participate in political activities such as writing letters to their elected representatives or attending county meetings. It is easy to see why politics remain an important part of life in Clay County and why it should be taken seriously by all citizens.
The political climate in Clay County, WV is very conservative.
In Clay County, WV 19.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 79.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Clay county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 79.6% to 19.0%.
Clay county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Clay County, WV is very 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.
Clay, West 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 Clay County, WV
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 63 contributions totaling $2,560 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $41 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 34 contributions totaling $14,206 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $418 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)