Bartow, Florida is a small city located in Polk County. It is known for its rich history and charming downtown area. Politically, the town tends to lean Republican, as evidenced by the recent election results which favored the local GOP candidates. The city has two mayoral seats which are held by Sandy Irwin and James F. Clements Jr., both of whom are Republicans. Local issues are often discussed at City Council meetings which involve representatives from each ward of the city. Quality of life, public safety, economic development, and traffic flow are all topics that are regularly addressed by locals during these meetings. Additionally, Bartow hosts a number of events throughout the year that relate to political discussion and debate which bring together community members from all walks of life. These events are beneficial to fostering civic engagement among residents, encouraging meaningful dialogue about current issues in order to make progress on important matters that affect the citizens of Bartow.
The political climate in Bartow, FL is leaning conservative.
Polk County, FL is somewhat conservative. In Polk County, FL 42.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 56.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Polk county remained strongly Republican, 56.6% to 42.2%.
Polk county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Bartow, FL is leaning conservative.
Polk County, Florida is somewhat conservative.
Lakeland-Winter Haven Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
Florida is leaning 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.
Bartow, Florida: 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 Bartow, FL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,363 contributions totaling $69,349 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $51 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 578 contributions totaling $104,005 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $180 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)