Preston, South Dakota is a small town located in the southeastern corner of the state. The population of the town is approximately 775 people. The town is governed by an elected mayor and council members. Local politics in Preston are largely focused on issues affecting the local community, such as improving infrastructure, economic development, and providing quality education and public safety services for all citizens. The mayor and council meet regularly to discuss issues and find solutions that will benefit the community as a whole. Local elections are held every two years to elect new city representatives who will work together to ensure the continued growth and success of Preston.
The political climate in Preston, SD is moderately 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
Preston, SD is moderately 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.
Preston, 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 Preston, SD
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2 contributions totaling $515 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $258 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 59 contributions totaling $46,438 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $787 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)