The small town of West Greenwich, Rhode Island (02817) is a rural community located in Kent County. It has an area of approximately 37 square miles and is home to about 8,400 people. Despite its size, the town plays an active role in politics through local elections. These elections are held every two years to fill various positions such as Town Council members, Tax Assessors, and School Committee members. The current Town Council consists of five members who serve four-year terms in office. Additionally, there are currently two Tax Assessors and three School Committee Members who are elected for two-year terms. All these officials work hard to ensure that the needs of West Greenwich’s citizens are met while keeping taxes and spending low. Local candidates must be nominated by ten registered voters from West Greenwich prior to the election day in order to be placed on the ballot for any given position.
The political climate in Zip 02817 (West Greenwich, RI) is leaning conservative.
Kent County, RI is leaning liberal. In Kent County, RI 52.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 45.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Kent county flipped moderately Democratic, 52.8% to 45.1%.
Kent county flipped back to Democratic in the most recent Presidential election, after voting Republican in 2016.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 02817 (West Greenwich, RI) is leaning conservative.
West Greenwich, Rhode Island is leaning conservative.
Kent County, Rhode Island is leaning 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.
West Greenwich, Rhode Island: 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 02817 (West Greenwich)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 169 contributions totaling $14,497 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $86 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 64 contributions totaling $48,758 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $762 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)