Rio, Illinois is a small town in Northwestern Illinois characterized by its close-knit community and strong sense of civic pride. Though the town is relatively small, it has a long history of local politics. The government of Rio is managed by the Town Trustees, who are elected to serve four year terms. As part of their duties, the Trustees manage the budget for public services such as police and fire departments, libraries, parks and recreation areas, and public works projects. They also work with state and federal representatives to ensure that Rio receives necessary resources from government grants and other programs. Voters in Rio have the opportunity to engage in local politics by casting their ballots in municipal elections held every two years for different offices on the Board of Trustees. It is through these elections that residents can make sure their voices are heard when it comes to shaping what kind of town they want Rio to be.
The political climate in Rio, IL is moderately 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
Rio, IL is moderately 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.
Rio, 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 Rio, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 37 contributions totaling $998 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $27 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 10 contributions totaling $3,400 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $340 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)