Vermont is a state located in the northeastern United States and its politics are largely dominated by the Democratic Party. The state has long been a blue state, with Democrats controlling the state government and holding all statewide offices since 2006. Vermont has consistently ranked among the most liberal states in the country and has been at the forefront of progressive policy initiatives. In recent years, Vermont has taken steps to combat climate change, passed a universal healthcare system, and increased minimum wage rates, all of which reflects its commitment to progressive values. The legislature is also strongly divided between progressives and moderates; this divide can result in gridlock when it comes to passing or blocking legislation. Vermont's two U.S Senators are both Democrats, as are its lone Congressman, Governor Phil Scott, and Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman. Voters in Vermont tend to favor candidates who are progressive on social issues such as civil rights and environmental protection while maintaining a fiscally conservative stance on economic matters. This combination of fiscal responsibility and progressive values allows for strong bipartisan support for many issues in the state legislature.
The political climate in Vermont is very liberal.
In Vermont 66.1% of the people voted for the Democratic Party in the last presidential election, 30.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.2% voted for an Independent Party.
In the last Presidential election, Vermont remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 66.1% to 30.7%.
Vermont voted Democratic in the previous six Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Vermont is very 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.
Vermont, Vermont: d 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 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 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 Vermont
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 139,470 contributions totaling $10,797,674 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $77 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 5,197 contributions totaling $1,515,471 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $292 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)