Fort Scott, Kansas is a small town with a population of about 8,500 people. It is located in the southeast corner of Bourbon County and is just over an hour away from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The town is governed by a mayor-council form of government led by Mayor Matt Bickel. Fort Scott has had an active political community for many years, with various civic groups working to advance their causes through local elections and other means. In recent years, there has been an effort to increase voter turnout at all levels of local politics, encouraging citizens to be more involved in decisions that affect their lives and the future of their town. Issues that have been prominent in recent elections include infrastructure improvements, economic development, and public safety initiatives. Local candidates have run on platforms ranging from fiscal responsibility to environmental protection. While Fort Scott may not be a major political player on the national scene, its citizens take pride in participating in the democratic process and making sure their voices are heard in shaping the future of their hometown.
The political climate in Fort Scott, KS is strongly conservative.
Bourbon County, KS is very conservative. In Bourbon County, KS 23.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 75.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Bourbon county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 75.2% to 23.1%.
Bourbon county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Fort Scott, KS is strongly conservative.
Bourbon County, Kansas is very conservative.
Kansas 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.
Fort Scott, Kansas: 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 Fort Scott, KS
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 178 contributions totaling $9,914 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $56 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 253 contributions totaling $38,671 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $153 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)