Columbus, IN is a small city located in Bartholomew County in the state of Indiana. The town has a population of 46,000 people and is known for its strong sense of community and Midwestern hospitality. On the political side of Columbus, IN, it is represented by local government officials such as Mayor Jim Lienhoop and City Council members Jody Hardin, Tim Shuffett, Frank Jerome, Elaine Wagner-McConnell, Kelly Shrock, Alicia Ryan and Joe Dent. The current mayor was elected in 2015 after serving on the city council from 2008-15. He has implemented several policies to promote economic growth while also protecting the environment. In addition to this he has also worked hard to create an atmosphere of collaboration between city departments as well as between local businesses and other stakeholders in order to ensure that all voices are heard when it comes to decision making in Columbus.
The political climate in Columbus, IN is somewhat conservative.
Bartholomew County, IN is strongly conservative. In Bartholomew County, IN 35.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 61.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Bartholomew county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 61.7% to 35.6%.
Bartholomew county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Columbus, IN is somewhat conservative.
Bartholomew County, Indiana is strongly conservative.
Columbus Metro Area is strongly conservative.
Indiana is somewhat 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.
Columbus, Indiana: 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 Columbus, IN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 5,783 contributions totaling $564,846 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $98 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,059 contributions totaling $2,566,536 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $839 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)