Benton, IL is a small city in Southern Illinois with a population of about 8,000 people. It has a mayor-council form of government with four aldermen and the mayor elected at-large for four year terms. The city's politics revolve around issues impacting Benton residents such as taxation, economic development, public safety, and infrastructure. The local political candidates in Benton are focused on finding solutions to these issues that will benefit all members of the community and improve the quality of life for everyone living in Benton. These candidates are committed to representing their constituents' interests and creating a better future for the town.
The political climate in Benton, IL is moderately conservative.
Franklin County, IL is very conservative. In Franklin County, IL 25.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 73.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Franklin county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 73.0% to 25.5%.
Franklin county voted Republican in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Benton, IL is moderately conservative.
Franklin County, Illinois is very conservative.
Illinois is moderately 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.
Benton, Illinois: d 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 Benton, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 534 contributions totaling $27,240 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $51 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 292 contributions totaling $52,748 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $181 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)