Oakland, IL is a small town located in the northern region of Illinois. Its population consists mainly of individuals who are passionate about their local government and invested in its success. The politics of Oakland, IL focus on providing residents with the resources they need to thrive and creating a strong economic foundation for the town. Local political candidates tend to be locals who are committed to improving the quality of life for all Oaklanders. They typically prioritize initiatives related to education, health care, infrastructure development, and public safety. These elected officials strive to keep taxes low while ensuring that public services are high-quality and accessible for everyone. They also work hard to maintain positive relationships with surrounding towns and cities as well as federal representatives in order to ensure that Oakland remains connected at all levels of governance.
The political climate in Oakland, IL is moderately conservative.
Coles County, IL is strongly conservative. In Coles County, IL 35.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 61.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Coles county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 61.9% to 35.6%.
Coles county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Oakland, IL is moderately conservative.
Coles County, Illinois is strongly conservative.
Charleston-Mattoon Metro Area 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.
Oakland, Illinois: r R d 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 Oakland, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 35 contributions totaling $1,759 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $50 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 12 contributions totaling $546 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $46 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)