The Merced, CA Metro Area has a long history of political involvement and engagement. The area is home to several cities and counties, each with their own local elected officials and governing bodies. At the county level, voters in Merced County have elected supervisors who serve four-year terms that oversee county programs like health care, public safety, parks, recreation and public works. On the state level, residents of the metro area are represented by Assembly Members as well as two State Senators. Additionally on the national level, citizens of the Merced area elect representatives to Congress who advocate for the interests of their constituents. All of these roles are essential in creating a better environment for all members of the community in the Merced Metro Area.
The political climate in Merced Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
In Merced Metro Area 53.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 43.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, the Merced metro area remained strongly Democratic, 53.8% to 43.3%.
The Merced metro area voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Merced Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
California is strongly 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.
Merced, California: 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 Merced Metro Area
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 4,219 contributions totaling $364,722 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $86 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,764 contributions totaling $641,465 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $364 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)