When you look at some states, they are incredibly conservative, when you look at others, they are incredibly liberal. So which are the most liberal states?
The US is often cited as one of the most liberal countries on Earth, or, as one of the most conservative countries. Thanks to how the United States is made up, some states are incredibly liberal, where others are not.
15. New York
New York is known as the “Empire State” due to this, it has become a favorite tourist city, in both the summer and the winter. This has, in turn, helped to make it one of the most liberal states in the US.
Thanks to its tourism industry, and infrarstructure left by the British, some of the largest companies in the world, including conservative companies, have made New York their home.
As a result, New York has been the seat of corporate control in America. And more recently, it has become the seat of young and immigrant voters, both groups who are overwhelmingly liberal. Not to mention their union rates.
14. Washington
Washington is not only named after our Founding Father, George Washington (shocker!), among our best presidents ever, but it is also one of the most liberal states in the United States!
Although Washington has no state tax, it is made up for with several other taxes. Washington has one of the highest property taxes at 1.03%, and a sales tax of 10.5%!
The state was among the first to legalize same-sex sexual activity, having done so in 1976! Following with this trend, Washington has also legalized same-sex marriage in 2012, as well as outlawing conversion therapy in 2018.
13. Oregon
Oregon is perhaps most well known for the game, Oregon Trail, named after the route the original settlers took. Just like the makers of the game, Oregon is incredibly liberal.
The state was among the first states to make LGBT relationships legal, doing so in 1972! Since then, it has continually pushed the boundaries for equality, forcing employers not to discriminate based on sexual orientation.
Oregon has one of the highest state income taxes in the US, at 9.9%. On top of that, Oregon also taxes the money made on dividends and interest at a further 7%-9.9% depending on how much is made.
12. New Mexico
New Mexico is one of the more recently admitted states into the Union. As with many other recently admitted states, New Mexico is overwhelmingly liberal, both in terms of its economy and its culture.
As the name would probably imply, New Mexico was at one point, a part of Mexico. This has given it one of the largest Latino populations in the United States, a population who are overwhelmingly liberal.
When Elizabeth Warren was on her campaign trail, she stopped of several times in New Mexico. Here, she gave passionate speeches about her wealth tax, to which the crowd readily received!
11. Hawaii
Hawaii is one of the newest states in the Union, as a result, the state often votes Democrat on almost all issues. This has seen it rightly earn the title of one of the US’s most liberal states.
For most of its statehood, Hawaii has been a Democrat state. It’s large population of blacks, Latinos, Native Americans and immigrants (all of whom are generally liberal) have led to Democrats being preferred.
Barack Obama is one such example of a Hawaiian native who is also a Democrat. Plus, Hawaii has one of the highest state income taxes in the Union at 8.25%, as well as 4% sales tax.
10. New Jersey
You probably haven’t really thought about the politics of New Jersey (unless you are from New Jersey!) However, for much of New Jersey’s history, it has been dominated by liberal politicians from three different parties!
Since 1992, New Jersey has been considered a Democrat stronghold, voting for them in every election, both presidential, midterm and governor. Today, New Jersey’s state legislature is almost solely made up of Democrats.
New Jersey was among the first states to allow universal suffrage. Prior to the Democrats being the liberal party in the US, New Jersey almost solely voted for the Whigs (liberal) and even the Republicans when they were liberal!
9. Vermont
Vermont was one of the first states that were not from the 13 colonies to be admitted into the Union. Since then, it has been one of the most progressive states, originally being Republican (liberal) and then Democrat (liberal).
Not surprisingly, this has been something shown throughout Vermont’s history, being one of the first Northern states to abolish slavery! Vermont has also come up with creative ways to fund schools, as well as introduce pro-LGBT laws.
This has arguably been why Bernie Sanders has become a Vermont State Senator. His socialist ideologies are shared by many in his constituency, as are his liberal policies!
8. California
When it comes to the most liberal states, it’s hard not to include California. Although they have had their fair share of conservatives and Republicans, they have become more and more liberal in recent years.
California has one of the highest percentages of Mexican (and Latino) Americans in the country, and the same for African-Americans. These communities tend to be more liberal, which has led to the Democrat’s rise.
On top of this, California is also home to the infamous Hollywood, an institution naturally becoming more liberal (although there are a few celebrity conservatives).
7. Maryland
Maryland is quite interesting. For much of its history, Maryland has been conservative, with it only being liberal just following statehood. However, recent history has seen it become more liberal.
Despite currently having a Republican Governor and Lieutenant Governor, much of the rest of the Maryland state legislature is still Democrat, and therefore relatively liberal.
In a survey by Gallup Poll, Maryland residents were asked whether they identified as conservative or liberal (or nether). When the results came in, an overwhelming majority of Marylanders identified as liberal!
6. Rhode Island
For the vast majority of Rhode Island’s history, it has been a liberal stronghold. Originally, Rhode Island voted for the Whigs, then the Republicans, and most recently, the Democrats, all liberal parties (during their time).
As with most other liberal states, Rhode Island has some of the highest tax rates in the country! Rhode Island charges between 3.75% and 5.99% income tax, as well as a further 3.75% to 5.99% on dividends and interest.
In recent years, the notion of a wealth tax has become quite popular in the US, especially among young people (who are more liberal than conservative). Rhode Island tooo, has become quite friendly to the idea.
5. Connecticut
At one point in time, Connecticut was the state of expensive boarding schools, educating Rockefellers, Kennedys and Hearsts, all conservative dynasties. Today, it is the land of liberal universities.
Today, Connecticut has extremely tough gun laws, often requiring several hours of form filling in order to pass background checks and the like, in order to get the gun. Further restrictions then apply.
In 2011, Connecticut raised state income their tax rate, from 6% to 6.35%. This is on top of the state’s 2.07% property tax rate, which is among the highest in the world (and fourth highest in the US!)
4. Illinois
Illinois is famously the state that Barack Obama was Senator of prior to becoming POTUS. Illinois was subsequently the state that helped to put Obama in the Oval Office.
It’s probably no surprise then, that Illinois is one of the most liberal states in the US. For much of its history, Illinois has had very lax laws on things that conservative states had (and many still do) very tight laws on.
Recently, Illinois has legalized same-sex sexual activity (after it was made illegal in 1993, before it was not!). Illinois also has very strict laws pertaining to discrimination, with it punishable by fines and even jail time!
3. Delaware
In recent years, Delaware has made headlines for having being a tax haven within the US (for corporations), drawing a lot of anger from the public. Nevertheless, Delaware is still one of the most liberal states in the union!
Depite heavy corporate interests in Delaware in recent years, it has almost exclusively voted Democrat in this time. In fact, since 1992, Delaware has exlcusively voted Democrat for both President and Governor.
In spite of having some of the lowest spending per student in the country, Delaware has among the best education and healthcare systems in the country, with the latter being largely funded by ObamaCare.
2. New Hampshire
You could argue that New Hampshire is not one of the most liberal states in the US, but rather, a middling one with a slight left lean. However, for the most part it is incredibly liberal.
30% of New Hampshire residents identify as liberal, with only 28% indentifying as conservative. For the vast majority of elections, New Hampshire has been a Democrat stronghold.
Since 1997, New Hampshire has levied a state income tax of 5%, as well as a separate tax rate (also at 5%) on dividends and taxable interest (if applicable). On top of this, New Hampshire is also very restrictive on guns.
1. Massachusetts
Massachusetts is among the US’s most liberal states. And it isn’t just me who says that, it’s the people of Massachusetts who say it too! According to surveys by Gallup Poll, 35% of Massachusetts residents identify as liberal!
On top of all this, Massachusetts has some of the strictest gun laws in the union. This has led to no school shootings or mass shootings in recent years, making it among the safest states in the US!
Massachusetts has a relatively low state income tax rate of 6.05%, however, it also has an extremely sales tax rate of 10.75%. On top of all that, in many of the larger cities, Massachusetts has a city tax rate of 3%.
Which are you favorite liberal states? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Mr TinDC via Flickr.