Burlington, VT is the largest city in the state of Vermont and has a rich political history. The city is governed by a mayor-council system with an elected mayor and city council members representing various wards throughout the city. Burlington has traditionally seen progressive politics, with a focus on environmental issues, sustainable initiatives, and minority rights. In recent years, there have been several high profile mayoral races between candidates of both parties. The current mayor is Miro Weinberger who was elected in 2012. With a commitment to sustainability, economic development, community building initiatives, and public safety, the current administration continues to ensure that Burlington is a great place to live for residents and visitors alike.
The political climate in Burlington, VT is strongly liberal.
Chittenden County, VT is very liberal. In Chittenden County, VT 75.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 21.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Chittenden county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 75.8% to 21.2%.
Chittenden county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Burlington, VT is strongly liberal.
Chittenden County, Vermont is very liberal.
Burlington-South Burlington Metro Area is very 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.
Burlington, Vermont: 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 Burlington, VT
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 17,426 contributions totaling $1,293,959 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $74 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 302 contributions totaling $396,418 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,313 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)