La Junta is a city in Otero County, Colorado. Located in the southeastern corner of the state, La Junta has been an important hub for the surrounding communities since it was founded in 1881. It is home to many notable landmarks and institutions, such as Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site and Otero Junior College. The local government of La Junta is headed by a seven-member city council, who are elected by residents each April. The council works closely with the mayor to ensure that local laws are obeyed and that city services remain efficient and effective. The current mayor is Charles \"Chuck\" Lockey, who has held office since 2017 and is currently running for re-election. He is endorsed by many business owners and citizens in the area who appreciate his strong leadership style. Additionally, there are several candidates for other political positions in La Junta this year, including three candidates running for city treasurer and two candidates running for police chief. These local elections have drawn attention from across the county as residents come out to show their support for their chosen candidate.
The political climate in La Junta, CO is somewhat conservative.
Otero County, CO is moderately conservative. In Otero County, CO 37.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 60.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Otero county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 60.1% to 37.6%.
Otero county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
La Junta, CO is somewhat conservative.
Otero County, Colorado is moderately conservative.
Colorado is somewhat 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.
La Junta, Colorado: 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 La Junta, CO
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 159 contributions totaling $6,373 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $40 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 67 contributions totaling $11,176 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $167 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)