Portland, Maine is an exciting and vibrant city located on the northern coast of New England. It is home to a diverse population of nearly 70,000 people. With its close proximity to Boston, Portland residents enjoy easy access to a variety of cultural and economic opportunities. Within the city itself, there are many different local political organizations and initiatives that have been created over the years to ensure that the voice of every resident has an outlet. From grassroots movements advocating for change in public policy to citizens engaging in civil dialogue around common interests, politics are alive and well in Portland. There are several prominent political figures who represent Portland at both the state and national level as well as those who serve in key positions within City Hall. In general, politics in Portland tend to lean toward progressive causes such as environmental sustainability, affordable housing, criminal justice reform, and educational equity. Regardless of one's political views or affiliations, Portland is an active participant in the democratic process and its citizens take their civic responsibilities seriously.
The political climate in Portland, ME is strongly liberal.
Cumberland County, ME is very liberal. In Cumberland County, ME 66.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 30.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Cumberland county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 66.5% to 30.8%.
Cumberland county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Portland, ME is strongly liberal.
Cumberland County, Maine is very liberal.
Portland-South Portland Metro Area is strongly liberal.
Maine is somewhat 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.
Portland, Maine: 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 if the Democratic Party candidate won and I if the Independent Party candidate won. 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 Portland, ME
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 12,529 contributions totaling $5,057,716 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $404 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 501 contributions totaling $268,464 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $536 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)