The Columbia, MO Metro Area is a vibrant and diverse region with many local political candidates running for office in each election cycle. The area boasts a strong economy and an educated population which has a vested interest in the political process. Local initiatives to improve infrastructure, create job opportunities, and support education are important topics discussed during elections. Voters here take their civic duties seriously, researching candidate platforms and holding their elected officials accountable for delivering on promises. As such, the region prides itself on having an informed electorate that takes part in meaningful conversations about the future of its communities.
The political climate in Columbia Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
In Columbia Metro Area 54.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 42.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, the Columbia metro area remained strongly Democratic, 54.8% to 42.3%.
The Columbia metro area voted Democratic in five of the last six Presidential elections (2004 went Republican).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Columbia Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
Missouri is somewhat 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.
Columbia, Missouri: d 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 Columbia Metro Area
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 22,437 contributions totaling $2,921,929 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $130 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 2,551 contributions totaling $1,211,954 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $475 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)