Modesto, CA is located in Stanislaus County and is the 18th largest city in California. The politics in Modesto are diverse as the population of over 200,000 people consists of a variety of backgrounds including Hispanic, Asian, African American, Pacific Islander and Caucasian. While state and federal politicians make policy for all citizens throughout the United States, the local politics can have an impact on the day-to-day operations in 95358 Modesto. Local politics focus on issues such as public safety, education, healthcare and economic development that directly affect residents living within the city limits. For example, local politicians may decide how much funding public schools should receive or how to spend money from property taxes for necessary services like police protection or garbage collection. Local politicians are responsible for making decisions that benefit their constituents as well as look out for their best interests. With elections happening every two years, it’s important for those living in 95358 Modesto to be aware of who their local political candidates are and to make sure their voices are heard during election season.
The political climate in Zip 95358 (Modesto, CA) is leaning liberal.
Stanislaus County, CA is leaning liberal. In Stanislaus County, CA 49.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 48.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Stanislaus county remained narrowly Democratic, 49.0% to 48.2%.
Stanislaus county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 95358 (Modesto, CA) is leaning liberal.
Modesto, California is leaning liberal.
Stanislaus County, California is leaning liberal.
Modesto Metro Area is leaning 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.
Modesto, 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 three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in zip 95358 (Modesto)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 366 contributions totaling $43,753 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $120 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 244 contributions totaling $61,120 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $250 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)