Des Moines, IA is the largest city in Iowa and the capitol of the state. It has a strong political culture, with many local and state officials representing the city in government. The city is divided into four districts, each with their own elected officials that make decisions on behalf of their constituents. Every two years, citizens have an opportunity to vote for candidates running for mayor, council members, and other offices. Des Moines also holds regular public forums to gather community input and discuss current issues facing the city as well as new initiatives proposed by local politicians. There are many organizations active in the political scene such as neighborhood associations, civil rights groups, civic clubs and environmental organizations that provide insight into how policies affect the community. Overall, politics play an important part in shaping Des Moines' future and ensuring it remains a safe and vibrant place to live.
The political climate in Des Moines, IA is somewhat liberal.
Polk County, IA is somewhat liberal. In Polk County, IA 56.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Polk county remained very strongly Democratic, 56.5% to 41.3%.
Polk county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Des Moines, IA is somewhat liberal.
Polk County, Iowa is somewhat liberal.
Des Moines-West Des Moines Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
Iowa is leaning conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Des Moines, Iowa: d d D D D D
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D if the Democratic Party candidate won and I if the Independent Party candidate won. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Des Moines, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 33,183 contributions totaling $7,066,722 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $213 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 6,922 contributions totaling $2,994,973 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $433 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)