The small town of Shinnston, located in Harrison County, West Virginia, is an example of a typical rural community with a population of around 2,700 people. Despite its small size, the area is still politically active and has two main political parties represented on the local level. The Democratic Party and Republican Party have both seen success in recent elections and are the two major parties that hold significant influence over local politics in Shinnston. Both parties have established specific platforms that advocate for economic development within the community as well as increased access to education opportunities. Additionally, both organizations are committed to protecting the rights of citizens and promoting social equality across all demographics. As such, each party has implemented a variety of policies to promote positive change within the town’s boundaries. Although there may not be any specific local political candidates at this time, it is clear that these two parties continue to shape the way politics operates in Shinnston.
The political climate in Zip 26431 (Shinnston, WV) is strongly conservative.
Harrison County, WV is very conservative. In Harrison County, WV 30.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 67.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Harrison county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 67.9% to 30.2%.
Harrison county voted Republican in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 26431 (Shinnston, WV) is strongly conservative.
Shinnston, West Virginia is strongly conservative.
Harrison County, West Virginia is very conservative.
Clarksburg 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.
Shinnston, West Virginia: d 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 26431 (Shinnston)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 19 contributions totaling $3,905 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $206 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 14 contributions totaling $7,435 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $531 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)