The Champaign-Urbana Metro Area is located in the heart of Central Illinois, and is the home to a diverse political landscape. Politically, the area leans slightly more Democratic than Republican, with recent presidential election results trending in favor of Democratic candidates. The local government is split between both parties, providing representation for residents on both sides of the aisle. In addition to traditional partisan politics, many issues important to the metropolitan area are decided through referenda and ballot initiatives, allowing citizens to have their voices heard in determining the future direction of their community. Political candidates in Champaign-Urbana often focus on providing effective economic development opportunities, increasing public safety measures, and investing in infrastructure projects that will benefit everyone living in the region.
The political climate in Champaign-Urbana Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
In Champaign-Urbana Metro Area 56.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 40.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, the Champaign-Urbana metro area remained very strongly Democratic, 56.1% to 40.7%.
The Champaign-Urbana metro area voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Champaign-Urbana Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
Illinois 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.
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois: r r 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 four elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Champaign-Urbana Metro Area
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 21,670 contributions totaling $1,502,808 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $69 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 2,985 contributions totaling $1,105,431 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $370 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)