Altoona, Iowa is a small and vibrant city located in Polk County. The city is led by the Mayor, City Council, and various departments within the city government, all of which strive to represent their constituents’ interests. As a resident-led government, Altoona’s politics are driven by citizen involvement. Residents can be involved in local politics by attending City Council meetings or engaging in public comments or discussions online and at events hosted by the city. The City Council listens to residents' opinions and takes them into consideration when making decisions that affect the community. Local elections are an opportunity for citizens to choose their representatives and have a say in how the town is run. Voting is an important part of democracy and allows residents to express their beliefs on issues like taxation, infrastructure projects, public safety, and economic development. With its strong sense of civic engagement, Altoona provides a great example of how local politics should work.
The political climate in Altoona, IA is leaning liberal.
Polk County, IA is somewhat liberal. In Polk County, IA 56.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Polk county remained very strongly Democratic, 56.5% to 41.3%.
Polk county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Altoona, IA is leaning liberal.
Polk County, Iowa is somewhat liberal.
Des Moines-West Des Moines Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
Iowa 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.
Altoona, Iowa: 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 Altoona, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,721 contributions totaling $208,128 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $121 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 547 contributions totaling $73,708 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $135 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)