The city of Portsmouth, NH (03801) is located in the northeastern corner of the state, on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. As a city with a population of 21,233 according to the 2019 US Census Bureau estimates, Portsmouth maintains a strong political presence in the Granite State. The representative for New Hampshire's first congressional district is Chris Pappas. With over 25 years experience as an elected official, Pappas is well-known in Portsmouth and throughout the state for his progressive stances on environmental protection, education reform, and healthcare access. The Mayor of Portsmouth, Rick Becksted was first elected to office in 2018 after serving two terms as a City Councilor before that. Since then he has been focused on improving public safety while also protecting taxpayers by managing city finances responsibly. In addition to these two major figures in local politics there are many more candidates vying for various positions throughout Portsmouth at all levels of government.
The political climate in Zip 03801 (Portsmouth, NH) is leaning liberal.
Rockingham County, NH is leaning liberal. In Rockingham County, NH 50.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 48.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Rockingham county flipped narrowly Democratic, 50.2% to 48.1%.
Rockingham county flipped Democratic in 2020, after voting Republican in four of the last six Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 03801 (Portsmouth, NH) is leaning liberal.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire is leaning liberal.
Rockingham County, New Hampshire is leaning liberal.
Boston-Cambridge-Newton Metro Area is very liberal.
New Hampshire is leaning 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, New Hampshire: r r d r r 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 03801 (Portsmouth)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 5,769 contributions totaling $1,174,681 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $204 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 799 contributions totaling $375,900 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $470 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)