Now that we’re starting up the election swing to decide not only our next President, but many other local statewide initiatives, it’s important to put into context the types of decisions that will be made in the coming years.
Who makes the decisions? Not the people getting elected. It’s the voters.
Specifically, we wanted to know which cities have the highest number of liberal voters in the Palmetto State?
In order to do so, we turned our sites on measuring how each city in South Carolina with populations greater than 5,000 voted and contributed to political campaigns in the past several years. The cities with the highest percentage of voters who voted Democrat and gave the most to liberals where named the most liberal cities in the state.
Here are the 10 most liberal places in South Carolina for 2019:
If you’re wondering, Easley is the most conservative city in South Carolina of all those we measured.
And to be clear, we didn’t form this list based on our own biases — we relied on the cold hard data. For more on how we ran the numbers, keep on reading. Then we’ll take a closer look at each of our top 10 most liberal cities in South Carolina.
And if you already knew these places were liberal, check out some more reading about South Carolina and the most lberal places in the country:
How we determined the most liberal cities in South Carolina for 2019
We started by making a list of every city in South Carolina over 5,000 people based on the 2013-2017 American Community Survey (The most recent data). That left us with 63 cities and towns.
We then measured the voting record and donation data to determine which places lean the most rightward in their allegiances by:
- Percentage Of Registered Democrats
- # Of Contributions To Democrats Per Capita
- $ Amount Contributed To Democrats Per Capita
Next, we ranked each city from 1 to 63 for each of the criteria where number one was the most liberal.
The winner, Orangeburg, is “The Most liberal City in South Carolina For 2019”.
Let’s go through these liberal places, shall we?
The 10 Most liberal Places In South Carolina For 2019
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Orangeburg, also known as The Garden City, is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2010 United States census. The city is located 37 miles southeast of Columbia, on the north fork of the Edisto River in the Piedmont area.
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Population: 11,950
Percent Democrat: 64.0%
$ Democrat Amount Per Capita: $17.69
# Democrat Contributions Per Capita: 0.38
More on Irmo: Data
Irmo is a town in Lexington and Richland counties, South Carolina, United States and a suburb of Columbia. It is part of the Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located 12 miles northwest of the city center. The population of Irmo was 11,097 at the 2010 census.
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Columbia is the capital and second largest city of the U.S. state of South Carolina, with a population estimate of 134,309 as of 2016. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. It is the center of the Columbia metropolitan statistical area, which had a population of 767,598 as of the 2010 United States Census, growing to 817,488 by July 1, 2016, according to 2015 U.S. Census estimates. The name Columbia is a poetic term used for the United States, originating from the name of Christopher Columbus.
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Marion is a city in Marion County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 6,711 at the 2016 census. It is the county seat of Marion County. It is named for Francis Marion, a Brigadier General from South Carolina in the American Revolutionary War.
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Bennettsville is a city located in the U.S. state of South Carolina on the Great Pee Dee River. As the county seat of Marlboro County, Bennettsville is noted for its historic homes and buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries – including the Bennettsville Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Sumter is the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. Known as the Sumter Metropolitan Statistical Area, the namesake county adjoins Clarendon and Lee to form the core of Sumter-Lee-Clarendon tri-county area of South Carolina, an area that includes the three counties in the east central Piedmont. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city’s population was 39,643 at the 2000 census. The 2010 census puts the city at 40,524.
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Mount Pleasant is a large suburban town in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. It is the fourth largest municipality and largest town in South Carolina, and for several years was one of the state’s fastest-growing areas, doubling in population between 1990 and 2000. The population was 67,843 at the 2010 census, and the estimated population in 2014 was 77,796. Mount Pleasant is the third largest city in the Charleston- North Charleston- Summerville metropolitan area, behind Charleston and North Charleston.
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Charleston is the oldest and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina’s coastline and is located on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers. Charleston had an estimated population of 134,385 in 2016. The estimated population of the Charleston metropolitan area, comprising Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, was 761,155 residents in 2016, the third-largest in the state and the 78th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States.
Summing Up The Liberal Snowflakes in South Carolina
Well there you have it, the places in South Carolina that have the highest number of liberals per capita, with Orangeburg ranking as the least conservative in the entire state.
If you’re curious, here are the least liberal cities in South Carolina:
- Easley
- Central
- Clemson
For more South Carolina reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Live In South Carolina
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In South Carolina
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In South Carolina
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In South Carolina
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In South Carolina
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In South Carolina
- 10 Safest Places In South Carolina
- 10 Worst Places To Live In South Carolina
