Politics

New York State consistently supports candidates belonging to the Democratic Party in national elections. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry won New York State by 18 percentage points in 2004, while Democrat Al Gore won the state by an even larger margin in 2000. New York City is a major Democratic stronghold with liberal politics. Many of the state's other urban areas, including Albany, Ithaca, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse are also Democratic. Rural upstate New York, however, is generally more conservative than the cities and tends to favor Republicans. Heavily populated suburban areas such as Westchester County and Long Island have swung between the major parties over the past 25 years and often have tightly contested local elections.

New York City is the most important source of political fund-raising in the United States for both major parties. Four of the top five zip codes in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top zip code, 10021 on the Upper East Side, generated the most money for the 2000 presidential campaigns of both George Bush and Al Gore.[11] Republican Presidential candidates will often skip campaigning in the state, taking it as a loss and focusing on vital swing states.