Many people are invested in politics these days, and they may not know if their neighbors are more or less likely to share their political beliefs. Is Hartford, Connecticut a primarily liberal or conservative city?
Hartford, CT is moderately liberal. The city has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election from 2000 and 2020. Connecticut and Hartford County are also moderately liberal; those areas also voted for the Democratic candidate in every election in the past twenty years.
The results of presidential elections, the political leanings of local leaders, the policies that have been enacted, and the demographics can all indicate the political climate of a city, and it is important to consider all these factors.
Presidential Elections
The percentages of residents of a city who voted for a candidate in the presidential election can give us an idea of whether or not that city is liberal. There are two political parties in the United States: the Democratic party and the Republican party. These parties represent the liberal and conservative points of view. The Democratic party supports liberal policies and has mostly liberal members. The Republican party supports conservative policies and has mostly conservative members. If the majority of the population in a city vote for the Democratic candidate, the city is mostly liberal. If the majority of the population votes for the Republican candidate, it is mostly conservative.
Connecticut is a moderately liberal
state. In all elections since 1992, the state has voted for the Democratic candidate. From 2000 to 2020, the difference between the percentages of Democratic and Republican voters was between 10% and 20%. The highest percentage difference was in 2020 and the lowest was in 2004.
In the 2020 election, 59.2% of residents voted for the Democratic candidate and 39.2% voted for the Republican candidate. This is the second highest percent of Democratic voters and the second lowest percent of Republican voters. The highest percentage of Democratic voters and lowest percentage of Republican voters were in 2008.
Hartford County, which is the county where the city of Hartford is, is also moderately liberal. The county voted for the Democratic candidate in all elections from 2000 to 2020. The difference in percentages of Republican and Democratic voters was between 20% and 30% except in 2004 when it was 19.14%, and in 2008, when it was 31.44%.
In 2020, 63.06% of residents voted for the Democratic candidate and 35.39% voted for the Republican candidate. The difference between the two percentages is 27.67%
Just like Connecticut and Hartford County, Hartford is moderately liberal. In every election between 2000 and 2020, the city has voted for the Democratic candidate. In all of these elections, the difference between the percentage of Democratic and Republican votes has been higher than 10%. The presidential election history of Hartford very closely reflects the presidential election histories of its county and state, making it a good reflection of those areas and those areas a good reflection of the city.
Between 2018 and 2021, there were 14,713 contributions to the Democratic party in Hartford. This added up to the $1,973,624 total that was donated. There were only 1,005 contributions to the Republican party, which added up to $315,252. The average amount of money per contribution was about 2 times higher in contributions to the Republican party than to the Democratic party.
Local Leaders
The local leaders or a city can also be a big indicator of the political party that the residents tend to vote for. These local leaders are more examples of elected officials in addition to the large-scale presidential elections. Who the residents vote for usually has a lot to do with whether they are mostly liberal or conservative. The political party of the leaders, the campaign platform they ran on, and the policies they have enacted are all factors in the political climate of a city.
Mayor
The mayor of Hartford is responsible for proposing a budget, signing the legislation, appointing department directors, and overseeing operations of the city. The mayor also represents the city in the state, county, and world matters.
The mayor of Hartford is Luke Bronin. He was elected in 2016, then reelected in 2019. His term will end in 2023.
Mayor Bronin has been in federal and state government. He was on the state General Counsel in 2013, and he was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes in the US Department of the Treasury during the Obama Administration. He has also been an attorney and served in the US Navy Reserve.
Mayor Bronin has taken on many initiatives during his time in office. He enacted the American Rescue Plan, which will allocate funding to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. He supported the Office of Sustainability, which is dedicated to environmental protection and sustainability. He also created the Hartford Emergency Assistance Response Team (HEARTeam), which responds to non-violent emergency calls and helps the caller through the emotionally distressing time.
Mayor Bronin is a member of the Democratic party. He even ran as a Democratic candidate for governor in 2018 but withdrew before the Democratic primary election. His environmental focus contributes to the assertion that he is of a liberal mindset.
City Council
The city council of Hartford is in charge of adopting the proposed budget, approving the mayoral appointees, imposing taxes, and changing the laws, policies, and ordinances of the city.
There are nine city council members. All of them are elected for four years by the entire city rather than by districts. Four of the city councilors of Hartford are women and five are men. There are six Democratic city councilors; the other three are independent. Six of the city councilors are serving for the first time, while three of them have been reelected.
Policies
The policies that a location put into place can be a good representation of the political climate of that area. People who believe in the liberal point of view are more likely to support legal abortion, more gun control laws, and legal gay marriage, while those who are considered conservative are more likely to oppose legal abortion, more gun control laws, and legal gay marriage.
Abortion
The state of Connecticut has relatively few regulations on abortions, though they do have a limited window in which a patient can get an abortion: 9 weeks and 6 days after the start of your last menstrual period. If the pregnancy will endanger the life of the patient, then the abortion may be performed after that time. Compared to other states where patients must have counseling and an ultrasound before receiving an abortion, and there is little to no healthcare coverage, Connecticut’s abortion laws are not very strict.
There were 54 facilities that provide abortions in Connecticut in 2017. 26 of those were clinics, which is a 4% increase from 2014. 13% of Connecticut counties did not have an abortion clinic, leaving 5% of Connecticut’s women without access to an abortion clinic.
Gun Laws
Connecticut had the 6th lowest gun death rate in 2020 in the country and the 7th lowest gun export rate. Connecticut gun laws include universal background checks, gun owner licensing, assault weapon restrictions, a large capacity magazine ban, concealed and open carry regulations, child access prevention laws, lost and stolen firearm reporting, and state database background checks. Connecticut gun laws do not include safe storage requirements, bulk firearm purchase restrictions, handgun design safety standards, or microstamping requirements.
Gay Marriage
Connecticut legalized same-sex marriage on November 12, 2008. This was seven years before the Supreme Court mandate requiring all states to legalize same-sex marriage. Connecticut was the second state to do so, just after Massachusetts.
Demographics
The population of Hartford is 121,535 people. The population density is 6,993 people per square mile. 52.0% of the population is female and 48.0% is male. The median age is 30.1 years old. The average number of people per household is 2.6 people.
The racial makeup of Hartford is as follows:
- White: 14.8%
- Black: 35.5%
- Hispanic/Latino: 44.3%
- Asian: 2.9%
- Native American: 0.0%
- Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.0%
- Two or More Races: 2.1%
- Other: 0.6%
27.8% of Hartford residents are married and 11.1% are divorced. 17.1% of Hartford residents are married with children and 44.9% are single with children.
The average income of Hartford residents is $16,813 per year, and the median household income is $29,313 per year. The unemployment rate is 14.0%. The sales tax rate is 6.4%, and the income tax rate is 5.5%.
72.7% of Hartford residents are high school graduates, and 17.8% are only high school graduates. 9.9% have two-year degrees, 16.6% have four-year degrees, 1.6% have master’s degrees, and 0.5% have professional degrees.
49.8% of Hartford residents are religious. 47.1% are Christian, 1.6% are Jewish, 0.6% are of eastern faith, and 0.3% are affiliated with Islam.
The rate of violent crime in Hartford on a scale of 1 to 100 is 55.5. The rate of property crime on that same scale is 58.6. Both are significantly higher than the national average (violent crime is 22.7 and property crime is 35.4).
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