The politics of Norfolk, VA (23517) are deeply rooted in the history and culture of the city. At its heart, it is a diverse city with a variety of political backgrounds, ranging from conservative to progressive. It is home to several prominent politicians, including U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and Congressman Bobby Scott. In local politics, the City Council works to ensure that all citizens have access to their government and that they are represented fairly. Furthermore, the Virginia General Assembly regularly meets in Norfolk to discuss legislation important to the state’s citizens. With an atmosphere of open dialogue and cooperation among all political parties, Norfolk’s citizens have an opportunity to shape their own future and make sure their voices are heard on the issues that matter most.
The political climate in Zip 23517 (Norfolk, VA) is very liberal.
Norfolk City County, VA is very liberal. In Norfolk City County, VA 71.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 26.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Norfolk city county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 71.7% to 26.1%.
Norfolk city county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 23517 (Norfolk, VA) is very liberal.
Norfolk, Virginia is very liberal.
Norfolk City County, Virginia is very liberal.
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metro Area is moderately liberal.
Virginia is somewhat 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.
Norfolk, Virginia: 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 23517 (Norfolk)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 704 contributions totaling $71,200 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $101 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 47 contributions totaling $13,142 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $280 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)