Willow Oak, FL is a small town nestled in the countryside of central Florida. Although it is a relatively small community, there are passionate local politics that take place amongst its citizens. Every two years, residents of Willow Oak come together to elect their mayor and city council members. As part of this election process, candidates must campaign for votes and address the needs of the community. The major issues that have been discussed recently include creating more efficient public transportation systems, improving educational opportunities for local youth, and increasing affordable housing options. These topics provide a great opportunity for candidates to share their visions for the future of Willow Oak with its citizens. With such important matters at hand, it is clear that local politics are an integral part of life in Willow Oak and will continue to be so for many years to come.
The political climate in Willow Oak, FL is leaning conservative.
Polk County, FL is somewhat conservative. In Polk County, FL 42.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 56.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Polk county remained strongly Republican, 56.6% to 42.2%.
Polk county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Willow Oak, FL is leaning conservative.
Polk County, Florida is somewhat conservative.
Lakeland-Winter Haven Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
Florida is leaning 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.
Willow Oak, Florida: 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 Willow Oak, FL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 468 contributions totaling $22,476 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $48 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 357 contributions totaling $61,902 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $173 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)