Morgantown, West Virginia is a small city located in Monongalia County. It is home to the University of West Virginia and has a population of around 30,000. The town is governed by a mayor-council system and the current mayor is Bill Kawecki. The council consists of six members each representing one of the six districts within the city limits. These districts are each responsible for managing their own infrastructure, parks, and social services for its residents. The local political candidates running for positions on the council are often chosen through primary elections that are held every two years. During these elections, Morgantown residents have the opportunity to select representatives who will be responsible for shaping policy decisions which will affect their lives directly.
The political climate in Zip 26505 (Morgantown, WV) is leaning liberal.
Monongalia County, WV is leaning conservative. In Monongalia County, WV 48.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 49.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Monongalia county remained narrowly Republican, 49.4% to 48.2%.
Monongalia county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 26505 (Morgantown, WV) is leaning liberal.
Morgantown, West Virginia is leaning liberal.
Monongalia County, West Virginia is leaning conservative.
Morgantown Metro Area is somewhat 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.
Morgantown, West Virginia: r r d 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 26505 (Morgantown)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,854 contributions totaling $152,005 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $82 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 295 contributions totaling $128,694 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $436 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)