Historically, Ashland has been something of a political outlier in southwest Oregon. In the presidential election of 1860, Ashland favored Abraham Lincoln while its neighbors strongly preferred pro-slavery candidates. In the early 1900s, Ashland voters supported women's suffrage and prohibition, generally out of step with the rest of the region. In more recent elections, liberal Ashland has supported tax levies and environmental regulations opposed by voters elsewhere in Jackson and nearby counties. Critics sometimes refer to the city as the "People's Republic of Ashland".