Politics in Brookings, South Dakota are heavily influenced by the local and state governments. The city is located in Brookings County, which is part of the South Dakota Legislative District 26. Its representatives in the South Dakota Senate are Neal Tapio and Tim Goodwin, and its representatives in the House of Representatives are Fred Deutsch, Thomas Brunner, and Isaac Latterell. Additionally, David Tiede serves as the mayor of Brookings. In recent years, Brookings has seen an increase in civic engagement among its residents as they have been participating more actively in elections at all levels. This has resulted in a greater number of people running for office locally and nationally to represent the town’s interests. There has also been an emphasis placed on promoting economic development through public-private partnerships that benefit both businesses and residents alike. As a result, there are numerous opportunities for citizens to get involved with their local government and make meaningful contributions to their community.
The political climate in Brookings, SD is leaning conservative.
Brookings County, SD is somewhat conservative. In Brookings County, SD 41.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 54.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Brookings county remained strongly Republican, 54.9% to 41.9%.
Brookings county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Brookings, SD is leaning conservative.
Brookings County, South Dakota is somewhat conservative.
Brookings Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
South Dakota is strongly 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.
Brookings, South Dakota: R R 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 Brookings, SD
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,302 contributions totaling $106,854 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $82 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 247 contributions totaling $119,302 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $483 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)