The Charlottesville, VA Metro Area is an area that has a vibrant political landscape. The city of Charlottesville is a Democratic stronghold, electing progressive candidates who are dedicated to improving the lives of its citizens. In addition to the municipal government, residents also have representation at the state level with two representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates and one in the Virginia Senate. Local issues are addressed by City Council members who work diligently to ensure that local needs are met. Beyond this, there are a number of advocacy organizations working to improve the quality of life for all citizens. These include initiatives to protect voting rights, increase access to health care and promote environmental protection. In short, Charlottesville offers its citizens ample opportunity to voice their opinion and engage in meaningful dialogue about important issues that affect them directly.
The political climate in Charlottesville Metro Area is strongly liberal.
In Charlottesville Metro Area 62.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 35.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, the Charlottesville metro area remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 62.1% to 35.9%.
The Charlottesville metro area voted Democratic in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Republican in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Charlottesville Metro Area is strongly liberal.
Virginia is somewhat 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.
Charlottesville, Virginia: r d 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 Charlottesville Metro Area
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 33,602 contributions totaling $9,125,034 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $272 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,994 contributions totaling $5,189,686 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,299 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)