Portsmouth, VA is a city located in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is known for its historic downtown area, waterfront views, and proximity to world-class military bases. Politics in Portsmouth are driven by the city’s diverse population and vibrant local economy. The City Council convenes on the first Monday of each month to discuss new initiatives for Portsmouth, as well as address public concerns over various issues like housing affordability and infrastructure. Residents have the opportunity to get involved through a variety of civic organizations such as the Portsmouth Citizen's Forum, which provides opportunities to dialogue with elected officials and make a difference in their local community. Additionally, residents can take part in local elections where they can choose their representatives who will be responsible for making policies about important matters that affect them directly.
The political climate in Portsmouth, VA is strongly liberal.
Portsmouth City County, VA is very liberal. In Portsmouth City County, VA 69.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 28.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Portsmouth city county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 69.4% to 28.6%.
Portsmouth city county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Portsmouth, VA is strongly liberal.
Portsmouth City County, Virginia is very liberal.
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metro Area is moderately liberal.
Virginia 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.
Portsmouth, Virginia: 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 Portsmouth, VA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,901 contributions totaling $119,778 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $63 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 299 contributions totaling $54,075 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $181 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)