Politics in 24712 Athens, WV are largely influenced by local citizens of the area. Local elections have been an important part of the community for many years and are held every two years. The mayor of Athens is elected every four years. In addition to the mayor, several other positions such as city clerk and aldermen are also elected at these times. Voters in Athens have the opportunity to choose local politicians who best represent their views and interests, and they often work together with the mayor to ensure that all citizens of the area benefit from their policies. Political issues are discussed at town hall meetings which take place regularly throughout the year. Issues like taxes, public services, infrastructure, and development are considered when decisions are made on how to move forward with projects in Athens.
The political climate in Zip 24712 (Athens, WV) is very conservative.
Mercer County, WV is very conservative. In Mercer County, WV 22.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 76.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Mercer county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 76.5% to 22.1%.
Mercer county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 24712 (Athens, WV) is very conservative.
Athens, West Virginia is very conservative.
Mercer County, West Virginia is very conservative.
Bluefield Metro Area is very conservative.
West Virginia is very 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, West Virginia: 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 24712 (Athens)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 41 contributions totaling $1,677 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $41 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 16 contributions totaling $1,700 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $106 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)