Olympia, WA 98502 is a vibrant city with a rich political history. It is the capital of Washington and home to the state's government. Olympia has had a strong presence in the political landscape for decades, having elected numerous mayors over the years and currently being represented by two members of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives. Olympia also hosts several annual events that bring together residents from all backgrounds to discuss important issues facing our city and nation. The annual Legislative Session, which begins the first Monday in January each year, brings together hundreds of politicians and activists from throughout Washington State for debate on important legislation. Additionally, Olympia holds several municipal elections every Spring in order to elect its mayor and city councilors who will lead civic decisions for four-year terms. As a result of its long history as an involved participant in politics, Olympia continues to be an influential force in local and state politics today.
The political climate in Zip 98502 (Olympia, WA) is somewhat liberal.
Thurston County, WA is moderately liberal. In Thurston County, WA 57.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 38.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Thurston county remained very strongly Democratic, 57.5% to 38.8%.
Thurston county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 98502 (Olympia, WA) is somewhat liberal.
Olympia, Washington is somewhat liberal.
Thurston County, Washington is moderately liberal.
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater Metro Area is moderately liberal.
Washington 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.
Olympia, Washington: 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 98502 (Olympia)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 7,655 contributions totaling $492,459 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $64 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 613 contributions totaling $173,731 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $283 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)