Somerset, NJ is a small town located in central New Jersey and has a long history of local politics. It is primarily governed by the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders, and their seven members are elected to serve three-year terms through bipartisan elections. Beyond the Freeholders, there are many other local officials who help make decisions that impact the citizens of Somerset. Among these are City and Township Councils, Planning Boards, Zoning Boards, and Municipal Courts. All these entities work together to ensure that Somerset remains a safe and prosperous place to live. The residents of this small town play an important role in local politics by voting in elections and participating in community events. The strong sense of civic engagement among Somervillians makes political involvement vital to keeping Somerset a great place for all its citizens.
The political climate in Somerset, NJ is somewhat liberal.
Somerset County, NJ is moderately liberal. In Somerset County, NJ 59.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 38.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Somerset county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 59.5% to 38.5%.
Somerset county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Somerset, NJ is somewhat liberal.
Somerset County, New Jersey is moderately liberal.
New York-Newark-Jersey City Metro Area is strongly liberal.
New Jersey is somewhat 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.
Somerset, New Jersey: 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 Somerset, NJ
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 5,131 contributions totaling $454,801 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $89 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 508 contributions totaling $138,849 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $273 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)