The city of Keystone, SD is located in the Black Hills region and has been a part of the state since 1877. In recent years, it has become a popular tourist destination for visitors seeking to explore the natural beauty of the area. The town is governed by a mayor and six council members who are elected by the residents every two years. They develop policies and provide services that benefit Keystone’s citizens. Voter turnout in local elections is usually quite high as citizens understand how important it is to have their voices heard in government decisions that affect their lives. Issues such as infrastructure development, public transportation options, and economic growth require citizen input to ensure they are addressed with care. Residents of Keystone have long taken pride in being active participants in their local democracy and continue to take an active role in local politics today.
The political climate in Keystone, SD is moderately conservative.
Pennington County, SD is strongly conservative. In Pennington County, SD 35.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 61.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Pennington county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 61.0% to 35.8%.
Pennington county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Keystone, SD is moderately conservative.
Pennington County, South Dakota is strongly conservative.
Rapid City 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.
Keystone, South Dakota: 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 Keystone, SD
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 19 contributions totaling $4,672 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $246 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 24 contributions totaling $7,593 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $316 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)