Portland, NY is a small town in Chautauqua County, with a population of around 1,700 people. Located on the shores of Lake Erie, Portland is an idyllic town that has remained largely unchanged since its founding in 1833. Despite its small size, Portland has an active political life with several local politicians involved in the community. The town's municipal government is led by the Town Supervisor who sets policy for the town and oversees all operations. The Town Board consists of four elected members who are responsible for approving budgets and ordinances and promoting progress in the community. Other elected officials include town justices to handle legal matters and a clerk to maintain records. In addition, residents may also elect a highway superintendent, a tax collector, and other positions as needed. All these politicians work together to keep Portland running smoothly while providing services and programs to benefit all citizens.
The political climate in Zip 14769 (Portland, NY) is somewhat conservative.
Chautauqua County, NY is moderately conservative. In Chautauqua County, NY 38.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 58.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Chautauqua county remained very strongly Republican, 58.8% to 38.9%.
Chautauqua county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 14769 (Portland, NY) is somewhat conservative.
Portland, New York is somewhat conservative.
Chautauqua County, New York is moderately conservative.
Jamestown-Dunkirk-Fredonia Metro Area is moderately conservative.
New York is moderately 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.
Portland, New York: r r d 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 14769 (Portland)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3 contributions totaling $75 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $25 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 4 contributions totaling $500 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $125 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)