Madison, WI is the state capital of Wisconsin and a bustling city known for its rich culture and history. The local politics in Madison have been shaped by a strong tradition of progressive values, with many elected officials advocating for progressive causes such as environmental protection and social justice. Over the years, Madison has seen an influx of politically active citizens who are passionate about getting involved in local issues. This increased political participation in the city has led to more active engagement between elected officials and their constituents, allowing for meaningful dialogue about important matters facing our community. In recent elections, Madison has seen a competitive field of candidates from both major parties, each offering their own unique perspective on how to best serve the people of Madison. The current mayor is Satya Rhodes-Conway who was elected in 2019 and is committed to improving educational equity, creating jobs, and tackling inequality in the city.
The political climate in Madison, WI is strongly liberal.
Dane County, WI is very liberal. In Dane County, WI 75.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 22.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Dane county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 75.5% to 22.9%.
Dane county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Madison, WI is strongly liberal.
Dane County, Wisconsin is very liberal.
Madison Metro Area is very liberal.
Wisconsin is leaning liberal.
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.
Madison, Wisconsin: D D D D D D
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 Madison, WI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 102,068 contributions totaling $12,522,344 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $123 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 7,138 contributions totaling $2,338,183 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $328 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)