Galena, IL is a small rural town nestled in the hills of Jo Daviess County. It has a rich history steeped in politics and government. The city is home to many prominent political figures that have served in local, state, and national offices throughout its history. Galena citizens have been involved in the governance of the city through their involvement and leadership in local government. The city prides itself on transparency when it comes to its elected officials and there is an active community of political activists who are eager to ensure that their voices are heard when it comes to local affairs. No matter the issue, from taxation to social justice, the citizens of Galena take an active role in advocating for change and progress for their community.
The political climate in Galena, IL is somewhat conservative.
Jo Daviess County, IL is moderately conservative. In Jo Daviess County, IL 40.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 57.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Jo Daviess county remained very strongly Republican, 57.2% to 40.8%.
Jo Daviess county voted Republican in four of the six previous Presidential elections (2008 and 2012 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Galena, IL is somewhat conservative.
Jo Daviess County, Illinois is moderately conservative.
Illinois is moderately 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.
Galena, Illinois: r r 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 Galena, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,373 contributions totaling $245,334 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $103 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 234 contributions totaling $31,242 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $134 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)