The town of Smithfield, RI (Zip Code 02917) is part of Providence County and is governed by the Smithfield Town Council. The Town Council consists of seven members who are elected by the residents in non-partisan elections to serve four-year terms. The Town Council meets regularly to discuss local issues such as budgets, infrastructure development, and zoning regulations. Additionally, every two years the residents vote on a ballot measure which decides who will lead as mayor or town manager. Smithfield also sends representatives to the Rhode Island General Assembly who advocate for the interests of their constituents on a state level. Local politicians are often seen attending various community events such as parades, farmer’s markets, or sporting events, which gives residents an opportunity to meet with them directly and have their voices heard.
The political climate in Zip 02917 (Smithfield, RI) is somewhat liberal.
Providence County, RI is moderately liberal. In Providence County, RI 60.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 37.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Providence county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 60.5% to 37.6%.
Providence county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 02917 (Smithfield, RI) is somewhat liberal.
Smithfield, Rhode Island is somewhat liberal.
Providence County, Rhode Island is moderately liberal.
Providence-Warwick Metro Area is moderately liberal.
Rhode Island 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.
Smithfield, Rhode Island: 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 02917 (Smithfield)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 196 contributions totaling $49,908 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $255 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 50 contributions totaling $10,685 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $214 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)