The small borough of Island Heights, NJ (08732) is an area of only 1.2 square miles located on the Barnegat Peninsula, between the Metedeconk River and Toms River. It is a quaint community of 1,053 people that prides itself on its tight-knit atmosphere and community involvement. Local politics has always focused on preserving the town’s unique qualities and preventing any overdevelopment or intrusion from larger cities in the area. Issues such as maintaining local parks and beaches, protecting natural resources, preserving historic buildings, retaining local businesses, and increasing recreational activities are all important to residents. The town council works together to ensure these goals come to fruition by setting rules that protect these interests without sacrificing growth opportunities that benefit everyone. Civic engagement is also a priority in Island Heights; with many committees in place to invite resident input on important decisions made by elected officials. The borough of Island Heights is an excellent example of how politically active citizens can make a difference for their community.
The political climate in Zip 08732 (Island Heights, NJ) is moderately conservative.
Ocean County, NJ is strongly conservative. In Ocean County, NJ 34.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 63.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Ocean county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 63.5% to 34.9%.
Ocean county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 08732 (Island Heights, NJ) is moderately conservative.
Island Heights, New Jersey is moderately conservative.
Ocean County, New Jersey is strongly conservative.
New York-Newark-Jersey City Metro Area is strongly liberal.
New Jersey 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.
Island Heights, New Jersey: r R R R R R
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 08732 (Island Heights)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 299 contributions totaling $89,387 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $299 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 108 contributions totaling $17,600 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $163 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)