Politics in Prior Lake, MN are generally focused on local issues. Local elections tend to draw smaller, more engaged crowds as candidates focus on representing the needs of their community. Issues like town and city budgets, public safety, infrastructure improvements and school district funding are typically important topics for local leaders and residents alike. Local political candidates in Prior Lake can be found campaigning for office at various events throughout the city such as fairs or other community gatherings. Voter turnout is typically high for these local races since they have a direct impact on the daily lives of citizens. Overall, Prior Lake is an engaged political community that places value on local decision making and understands the importance of having representatives who understand the unique needs of its citizens.
The political climate in Prior Lake, MN is somewhat conservative.
Scott County, MN is leaning conservative. In Scott County, MN 45.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 52.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Scott county remained moderately Republican, 52.1% to 45.5%.
Scott county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Prior Lake, MN is somewhat conservative.
Scott County, Minnesota is leaning conservative.
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metro Area is moderately liberal.
Minnesota is leaning liberal.
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.
Prior Lake, Minnesota: R R R R 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 Prior Lake, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3,238 contributions totaling $1,175,363 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $363 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,015 contributions totaling $824,130 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $812 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)