Politics in 27278 Hillsborough, NC, are an important part of the local community. All residents have the opportunity to get involved in the political process by voting in local elections and attending public forums and debates. The City of Hillsborough holds municipal elections every two years and county commissioners are elected every four years. Candidates for these positions must be registered to vote in Wake County. Through their active involvement, citizens are able to influence the decisions that will shape their community. The current mayor is Nancy McFarlane who was re-elected for a sixth term in 2019. The city commission is made up of six members, with three seats up for election each year, along with key positions such as mayor pro tem and police chief being elected on an annual basis. In addition to these positions, there are several initiatives put forward by both officials and citizens throughout the year which can be voted on during elections or special referendums.
The political climate in Zip 27278 (Hillsborough, NC) is moderately liberal.
Orange County, NC is very liberal. In Orange County, NC 74.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 23.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Orange county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 74.8% to 23.7%.
Orange county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 27278 (Hillsborough, NC) is moderately liberal.
Hillsborough, North Carolina is moderately liberal.
Orange County, North Carolina is very liberal.
Durham-Chapel Hill Metro Area is very liberal.
North Carolina is leaning conservative.
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.
Hillsborough, North Carolina: 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 27278 (Hillsborough)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 4,540 contributions totaling $430,770 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $95 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 363 contributions totaling $46,710 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $129 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)