Wasilla, Alaska is a city located in the Matanuska- Susitna Borough, about 40 miles outside of Anchorage. Politically, Wasilla has a unique position as part of the conservative Republican stronghold in Alaska. The current mayor is Bert Cottle, who has been in office since 2013. With a population of over 8,000 citizens, Wasilla is served by a seven member City Council comprised of representatives from each of the seven wards. Elections are held every three years for mayor and council members and all candidates run on non-partisan ballots. In 2018, seven candidates ran for mayor and the incumbent was re-elected with nearly 70% of the vote. The City Council typically works together to pass policies that benefit all residents and businesses in Wasilla. Issues often discussed range from local taxes to infrastructure improvements to housing development to public safety initiatives. Local political events such as forums or debates between candidates are held regularly so that citizens can stay informed about their elected officials’ opinions on important issues.
The political climate in Wasilla, AK is moderately conservative.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough County, AK is very conservative. In Matanuska-Susitna Borough County, AK 24.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 71.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 4.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Matanuska-Susitna Borough remained overwhelmingly Republican, 71.2% to 24.7%.
Matanuska-Susitna county voted Republican in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Wasilla, AK is moderately conservative.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough County, Alaska is very conservative.
Anchorage Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
Alaska 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.
Wasilla, Alaska: D 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 Wasilla, AK
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 495 contributions totaling $24,096 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $49 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 630 contributions totaling $101,993 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $162 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)