Rapides Parish, located in Louisiana, is a vibrant community filled with diverse individuals and cultures. The county has a strong economy, with an unemployment rate of 4.8%, well below the national average of 5.3%. Rapides is also home to many political organizations including the Rapides Parish Republican Executive Committee and the Rapides Democratic Women's Club. Each organization works to promote their respective party platforms and values throughout the county by hosting events and engaging in debates within local government. These organizations help foster an atmosphere of understanding between all citizens regardless of political affiliation. Local candidates are regularly elected to lead the county in various roles such as County Commissioners, Mayor, Sheriff, Clerk of Court, Treasurer, District Attorney, Juvenile Court Judge and Constable. Through responsible governance these officials strive to create a better future for the citizens of Rapides Parish by listening to their needs and implementing solutions that benefit everyone.
The political climate in Rapides County, LA is very conservative.
In Rapides County, LA 33.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 65.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Rapides parish remained overwhelmingly Republican, 65.1% to 33.1%.
Rapides county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Rapides County, LA is very conservative.
Alexandria Metro Area is very conservative.
Louisiana is moderately 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.
Rapides, Louisiana: 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 for the Democrat and I for the Independent. 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 Rapides County, LA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,914 contributions totaling $176,483 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $61 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,249 contributions totaling $566,074 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $453 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)