The small town of 12185 Valley Falls, NY is home to a close-knit community whose political views are largely conservative. Although there are no local political candidates in the area, many residents are passionate about issues such as gun rights, immigration reform, and environmental protection. There are several volunteer groups that focus on these topics and encourage citizens to get involved with their local governance. People come together regularly to discuss matters of local importance and offer opinions and solutions. Many people take pride in engaging in politics and being part of the decision-making process that affects their lives both directly and indirectly.
The political climate in Zip 12185 (Valley Falls, NY) is leaning conservative.
Rensselaer County, NY is leaning liberal. In Rensselaer County, NY 51.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 46.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Rensselaer county flipped moderately Democratic, 51.6% to 46.0%.
Rensselaer county flipped back to Democratic in the most recent Presidential election, after voting Republican in 2016.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 12185 (Valley Falls, NY) is leaning conservative.
Valley Falls, New York is leaning conservative.
Rensselaer County, New York is leaning liberal.
Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
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.
Valley Falls, New York: d d d D 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 12185 (Valley Falls)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 59 contributions totaling $3,515 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $60 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 46 contributions totaling $5,344 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $116 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)