Portsmouth, VA is a vibrant community located in 23703 and is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The city is known for its deep maritime history, affordable housing, and friendly atmosphere. Politics in Portsmouth are strongly influenced by local issues such as education and infrastructure. In recent years, there have been debates about increasing taxes to fund more resources for schools and other initiatives. The Mayor of Portsmouth is John Rowe, a former City Councilman who was elected in 2018. Other important political figures include Vice-Mayor Elizabeth Psimas, City Councilman Shannon Glover, and Clerk of Court Kenneth Wright. There are several active committees that serve the community with topics ranging from economic development to public safety. Local elections are held every two years and residents are encouraged to participate in voting to ensure the best representation in government and policy making decisions.
The political climate in Zip 23703 (Portsmouth, VA) is strongly liberal.
Portsmouth City County, VA is very liberal. In Portsmouth City County, VA 69.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 28.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Portsmouth city county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 69.4% to 28.6%.
Portsmouth city county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 23703 (Portsmouth, VA) is strongly liberal.
Portsmouth, Virginia is strongly liberal.
Portsmouth City County, Virginia is very liberal.
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metro Area is moderately 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.
Portsmouth, Virginia: 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).
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 23703 (Portsmouth)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 707 contributions totaling $29,025 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $41 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 70 contributions totaling $13,630 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $195 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)