Columbia, SD is the county seat of Richland County in South Dakota. It is a small city with a population of about 3,000 people. Columbia has a strong sense of community and a commitment to local government that is evident in the town’s political involvement. Residents are passionate about their local politics and take an active role in City Council meetings and decisions, as well as campaigns for mayor and city council members. At these meetings, locals engage in lively discussions on issues important to them such as infrastructure improvements, taxation rates, public safety initiatives, and economic development. Beyond just their presence at local meetings and debates, many residents also get involved beyond the polling booths during election season by volunteering for campaigns or donating funds to support the candidates they believe in. This engagement demonstrates the importance that Columbia places on its local politics and speaks to the spirit of community found within the city.
The political climate in Columbia, SD is strongly conservative.
Brown County, SD is moderately conservative. In Brown County, SD 37.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 60.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Brown county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 60.3% to 37.3%.
Brown county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Columbia, SD is strongly conservative.
Brown County, South Dakota is moderately conservative.
Aberdeen Metro Area is strongly 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.
Columbia, 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 Columbia, SD
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 24 contributions totaling $1,095 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $46 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 4 contributions totaling $1,200 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $300 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)