Columbia, Pennsylvania is a small borough located in Lancaster County. It has a diverse population of just over 10,000 people and the political climate reflects the diversity of its residents. The local elections are conducted according to the rules established by the state of Pennsylvania and candidates from both major parties are represented on the ballot. Residents can vote for their preferred candidate in local races like mayor or school board member, as well as for county commissioners and representatives in state and federal government offices. The current mayor is a Democrat, representing Columbia's commitment to progressive values and social justice initiatives. With organized support from its citizens, Columbia shows that it is possible for small towns to make a real difference in American politics.
The political climate in Zip 17512 (Columbia, PA) is somewhat conservative.
Lancaster County, PA is somewhat conservative. In Lancaster County, PA 41.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 56.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Lancaster county remained very strongly Republican, 56.9% to 41.2%.
Lancaster county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 17512 (Columbia, PA) is somewhat conservative.
Columbia, Pennsylvania is somewhat conservative.
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is somewhat conservative.
Lancaster Metro Area is somewhat 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.
Columbia, Pennsylvania: R 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 17512 (Columbia)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 143 contributions totaling $4,545 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $32 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 150 contributions totaling $12,881 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $86 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)