Rutherford, Pennsylvania has a long political history, with many important figures from the area contributing to the state and national politics. The city of Rutherford is considered to be politically moderate which is reflected in some of the voting trends seen among its residents. Residents of Rutherford tend to vote for candidates that are more centrist than those on either side of the political spectrum. Some local political issues that have been addressed over the years include economic development, education reform, environmental protection and public safety. The current mayor of Rutherford is Robert Creer, who was elected in 2019 and has focused on creating new jobs while encouraging growth and revitalization of the community. Rutherford has also been home to notable politicians such as former senator Arlen Spector and former congressman Curt Weldon, both of whom served for multiple decades in their respective offices. Despite its small size, Rutherford remains an important part of Pennsylvania's political landscape.
The political climate in Rutherford, PA is leaning liberal.
Dauphin County, PA is somewhat liberal. In Dauphin County, PA 53.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 44.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Dauphin county remained moderately Democratic, 53.4% to 44.9%.
Dauphin county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Rutherford, PA is leaning liberal.
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania is somewhat liberal.
Harrisburg-Carlisle Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Pennsylvania is leaning 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.
Rutherford, Pennsylvania: r r 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 Rutherford, PA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3,615 contributions totaling $388,469 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $107 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 999 contributions totaling $230,146 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $230 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)