The city of Bellingham, WA has a population of 82,000 and is located in Whatcom County. It is governed by a mayor-council system. Mayor Kelli Linville was elected in 2011 and her term ends in December 2021. The City Council consists of eight members who are elected to four-year terms. Currently, the councilors are Rita Glassgow, Barbara Ryan, April Barker, Michael Lilliquist, Amy Gedranged, Gene Knutson, Tyler Byrd and Dan Hammill. The City also has an appointed City Manager who works together with the council to create policy that meets the needs of the community. Recent issues that have been discussed include focusing on affordable housing solutions for low-income residents and making sure infrastructure keeps up with growth in the area. Community engagement through town halls and surveys is highly encouraged by the city so that all voices can be heard on important topics affecting Bellingham.
The political climate in Zip 98225 (Bellingham, WA) is moderately liberal.
Whatcom County, WA is strongly liberal. In Whatcom County, WA 60.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 36.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Whatcom county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 60.4% to 36.4%.
Whatcom county voted Democratic in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Republican in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 98225 (Bellingham, WA) is moderately liberal.
Bellingham, Washington is moderately liberal.
Whatcom County, Washington is strongly liberal.
Bellingham Metro Area is strongly liberal.
Washington is moderately 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.
Bellingham, Washington: r 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 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 98225 (Bellingham)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 11,829 contributions totaling $1,574,757 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $133 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 595 contributions totaling $159,848 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $269 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)