Apple Valley, Minnesota is a small suburban town located in the Twin Cities metro area. Home to approximately 50,000 residents, Apple Valley has a long history of civic engagement and strong local politics. The city is governed by a mayor and four council members who are elected by the citizens every two years. Issues such as public safety, infrastructure improvements, economic development, housing affordability, and environmental protection have been at the forefront of recent political debates in Apple Valley. Additionally, various local organizations are actively involved in promoting political activity amongst its citizens to ensure their voices are heard in decision-making processes. As a result of this active political participation from its residents, Apple Valley has become an important center for community involvement and civic engagement.
The political climate in Apple Valley, MN is leaning liberal.
Dakota County, MN is somewhat liberal. In Dakota County, MN 55.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Dakota county remained strongly Democratic, 55.7% to 41.8%.
Dakota county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Apple Valley, MN is leaning liberal.
Dakota County, Minnesota is somewhat liberal.
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.
Apple Valley, Minnesota: r r 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 Apple Valley, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 7,931 contributions totaling $345,485 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $44 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 672 contributions totaling $112,563 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $168 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)