The politics in 98516 Olympia, WA are primarily centered around the local government of the city and the state legislature. Olympia is the capital of Washington and is home to a variety of elected officials representing both state and local levels. Olympia is also home to two United States representatives: US Representative Denny Heck (D-WA) and US Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA). On the state level, there are a plethora of senators and representatives from various districts throughout the city. Additionally, Olympia has a strong mayoral system with current mayor Cheryl Selby heading up many initiatives concerning municipal services for citizens. The political atmosphere in 98516 Olympia is one that emphasizes civic engagement within its community, while providing elected officials who are not only accessible but have a vested interest in representing all citizens' interests.
The political climate in Zip 98516 (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 98516 (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 98516 (Olympia)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,410 contributions totaling $145,042 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $60 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 329 contributions totaling $51,283 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $156 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)