Galesburg, IL is a small city in Knox County located in the midwestern region of the United States. It has been home to a variety of cultural and political influences throughout its history. Galesburg is home to several local political organizations which strive to serve the community and represent their constituents’ interests. The city participates in a nonpartisan electoral system that allows for candidates from all parties and backgrounds to run for office. Recent elections have seen candidates from both established parties as well as independent candidates vying for voters’ support. The combination of strong grassroots campaigns and strategic political alliances has enabled local politicians to gain traction with voters. Locally, political discussion centers around education, infrastructure improvements, public safety, economic development initiatives, and more recently sustainability efforts. The politics of Galesburg are ever evolving but it remains rooted in its commitment to progress while keeping an eye on its past.
The political climate in Galesburg, IL is leaning conservative.
Knox County, IL is leaning conservative. In Knox County, IL 46.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 51.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Knox county remained moderately Republican, 51.7% to 46.1%.
Knox county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Galesburg, IL is leaning conservative.
Knox County, Illinois is leaning conservative.
Galesburg Metro Area is leaning 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.
Galesburg, Illinois: D d D D 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 Galesburg, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,224 contributions totaling $72,022 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $59 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 576 contributions totaling $459,483 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $798 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)