Erie, Pennsylvania is located in the northwestern corner of the state and is home to a diverse population. With a population of approximately 101,786 people according to 2018 estimates, Erie is a bustling city with much to offer. The city has an array of government officials that are responsible for representing their constituents and making decisions on their behalf. At the local level, the mayor of the city is Joe Schember who is supported by City Council members such as Mel Witherspoon, David Brennan and Lisa Austin. On the state level representatives include Ryan Bizzarro and Pat Harkins while Bob Casey Jr. serves as Senator in Congress. All these elected officials are accountable to their constituents and work hard to ensure that they provide good services that will benefit all residents of Erie, PA. Overall, it is clear that politics play an important role in this region and its citizens hold their elected officials to high standards.
The political climate in Zip 16503 (Erie, PA) is somewhat liberal.
Erie County, PA is leaning liberal. In Erie County, PA 49.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 48.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Erie county flipped narrowly Democratic, 49.7% to 48.6%.
Erie county flipped back to Democratic in the most recent Presidential election, after voting Republican in 2016.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 16503 (Erie, PA) is somewhat liberal.
Erie, Pennsylvania is somewhat liberal.
Erie County, Pennsylvania is leaning liberal.
Erie Metro Area is leaning liberal.
Pennsylvania 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.
Erie, Pennsylvania: 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 16503 (Erie)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 15 contributions totaling $2,555 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $170 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1 contributions totaling $25 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $25 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)