Politics in Athens, TN (37303) are largely driven by the local city government. The City of Athens is led by a Mayor and four Aldermen who are elected every two years. Elected officials set policies for the city and oversee matters such as taxation, public safety, infrastructure and economic development. City council meetings are open to the public and citizen input is welcomed. The City of Athens maintains a positive relationship with other local governments including McMinn County, where countywide initiatives such as road improvements, school funding and property tax assessments are discussed. Additionally, there is strong support for state-level politicians who have helped bring jobs to the region through initiatives like the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). All in all, politics in 37303 Athens TN reflect a commitment to progressive growth that benefits the community as a whole.
The political climate in Zip 37303 (Athens, TN) is strongly conservative.
McMinn County, TN is very conservative. In McMinn County, TN 19.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 79.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, McMinn county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 79.7% to 19.1%.
McMinn county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 37303 (Athens, TN) is strongly conservative.
Athens, Tennessee is strongly conservative.
McMinn County, Tennessee is very conservative.
Athens Metro Area is very conservative.
Tennessee is moderately 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.
Athens, Tennessee: R R R R R R
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 37303 (Athens)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 161 contributions totaling $5,410 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $34 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 157 contributions totaling $34,432 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $219 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)