Alton, IL is a small city located in Madison County on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. Politically, Alton has been historically a blue area due to its close proximity to St. Louis, with Democratic candidates generally preferred in local elections. The City Council is composed of ten members elected from five wards around the city, and they hold regular meetings throughout the year to discuss issues such as public services, infrastructure projects, and economic development initiatives for their constituents. In recent years, local politics have focused on investing in Alton's downtown area and creating an attractive environment for businesses to flourish. There are a variety of non-partisan organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Alton residents through advocacy and civic engagement as well.
The political climate in Alton, IL is leaning conservative.
Madison County, IL is somewhat conservative. In Madison County, IL 42.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 55.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Madison county remained strongly Republican, 55.3% to 42.0%.
Madison county voted Republican in three most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous three.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Alton, IL is leaning conservative.
Madison County, Illinois is somewhat conservative.
St. Louis Metro Area is leaning liberal.
Illinois is moderately 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.
Alton, Illinois: d d d 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 Alton, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,164 contributions totaling $710,699 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $328 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 776 contributions totaling $126,097 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $163 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)