NamePolitics

Libby

sits middle of the pack

liberaltypical nameconservative
Score
−0.31
More liberal than
62% of names
Measured from
1,175 contributors
more liberalevery scored namemore conservative

That ranking compares Libby with other names. The typical name scores −0.22, because people who donate to campaigns lean left as a group, so a name can sit left of zero and still be middle of the pack. The party splits below use a different yardstick again: each one is measured against an even fifty-fifty.

DIME contributor ideal points, 1979-2014. Negative is liberal, positive conservative.

Libby versus Elizabeth

People who go by Libby rather than Elizabeth sit 0.04 to the right of the full name. It is the same name. The difference is what people choose to be called.

Libby
liberalconservative
Elizabeth
liberalconservative

How does Libby compare with someone else's name?

Party, by population

Different groups of people, measured in different ways. They do not always agree, and the disagreement is usually the interesting part.

Campaign donors, nationwide773 people
72% Democratic28% Republican

Federal contributions, 2016 to 2026. Donors skew older and wealthier than the country.

Registered voters, North Carolina254 people
48% Democratic52% Republican

Actual party registration, which is a choice people make at the DMV rather than with a chequebook.

Registered voters, Florida327 people
57% Democratic43% Republican

Party registration again, in a state with a very different mix of people. Florida and North Carolina agree on which way a name leans 88% of the time.

Another set of donor records points the same way. Among donors to 527 organisations, Libby is 83% Democratic where that pool averages 71%, across 109 people.

Is it the name, or the people who have it?

Names carry age, sex and ethnicity, and those predict politics on their own. Comparing every Libby in North Carolina against other registrants of the same age, sex and race leaves +0.07 that the demographics do not explain. For this name, almost nothing survives: the name is standing in for who happens to carry it.

Related spellings

Where Libby leans differently

StateDemocratic share of donorsAgainst that state’s own donors
CA78%+0.64
TX48%+0.44
NY90%+1.30
NC78%+1.28
OH70%+0.97
IL77%+0.78
FL57%+0.75

The right column compares Libby with other donors in the same state, so it is not just telling you which states are Democratic.

Look up another name