The city of 78550 Harlingen, TX is the commercial center of the Rio Grande Valley and is governed by a mayor-council system. Currently, Mayor Chris Boswell leads the city’s government alongside five other City Council members. The City Council meets regularly to discuss local legislation surrounding issues such as economic development, public safety, infrastructure improvements, and public works projects. In addition to these issues, the City Council also works with local organizations and initiatives to address the needs of Harlingen’s diverse population. For instance, in 2021 the City Council will work with local businesses to create more job opportunities for its residents. Furthermore, they have also created a number of community programs and initiatives that focus on providing resources and services to those in need. Overall, politics in Harlingen are focused on improving the lives of its citizens and promoting growth within the area.
The political climate in Zip 78550 (Harlingen, TX) is somewhat liberal.
Cameron County, TX is somewhat liberal. In Cameron County, TX 56.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 42.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Cameron county remained strongly Democratic, 56.0% to 42.9%.
Cameron county voted Democratic in five of the last six Presidential elections (2004 went Republican).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 78550 (Harlingen, TX) is somewhat liberal.
Harlingen, Texas is somewhat liberal.
Cameron County, Texas is somewhat liberal.
Brownsville-Harlingen Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
Texas 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.
Harlingen, Texas: d r 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 78550 (Harlingen)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 628 contributions totaling $107,172 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $171 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 390 contributions totaling $157,336 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $403 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)