Dubuque, Iowa is a vibrant and diverse city with an active political culture. It is located in the northeast corner of the state and sits on the Mississippi River. Dubuque is governed by a Mayor-Council form of government, which is headed by a mayor elected to serve a four-year term who oversees 89 departments and 10 divisions. The City Council consists of nine members, elected to serve two-year terms. This council has the power to create laws and ordinances as well as set policy for the city. Special attention is given to local issues such as economic development, job growth, public safety, and infrastructure improvements. In addition to these responsibilities, Dubuque's City Council also appoints representatives to various boards and committees that address various areas in the community including parks and recreation, land use planning, health services, social equity concerns, environmental stewardship efforts and more
This active political culture ensures that all voices are heard in Dubuque when it comes to decisions being made by city government. As part of this process, citizens are encouraged to become involved in their local communities by attending public meetings held regularly or participating in voting during elections. As a result of this commitment to civic engagement from both citizens and politicians alike, Dubuque has seen positive results in areas such as job growth, infrastructure improvements, public safety initiatives and increased educational opportunities for its residents.
The political climate in Dubuque, IA is leaning conservative.
Dubuque County, IA is leaning conservative. In Dubuque County, IA 47.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 50.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Dubuque county remained Republican, 50.5% to 47.6%.
Dubuque county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Dubuque, IA is leaning conservative.
Dubuque County, Iowa is leaning conservative.
Dubuque Metro Area is leaning conservative.
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.
Dubuque, Iowa: D D D D r r
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 Dubuque, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3,112 contributions totaling $228,911 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $74 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,122 contributions totaling $701,508 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $625 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)