Wood River, IL is a small city located in Madison County. It has a rich political history and tradition of public service, with many local offices being held by long-term incumbents. Local politics are dominated by two main parties, the Republican and Democratic Parties. Each party has its own platform, set of beliefs, and goals for the community. The current mayor is a Republican who was elected in 2019 and is working to improve infrastructure, public safety, and economic development in the city. The City Council consists of five members from each party - three Republicans and two Democrats - all of whom work together to represent the interests of Wood River's citizens. The city also elects representatives to state legislature who serve in both chambers. These representatives are often involved in decisions concerning statewide issues that affect Wood River residents directly.
The political climate in Wood River, IL is leaning conservative.
Madison County, IL is somewhat conservative. In Madison County, IL 42.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 55.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Madison county remained strongly Republican, 55.3% to 42.0%.
Madison county voted Republican in three most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous three.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Wood River, IL is leaning conservative.
Madison County, Illinois is somewhat conservative.
St. Louis Metro Area is leaning liberal.
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.
Wood River, Illinois: d d 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 Wood River, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,779 contributions totaling $1,044,437 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $376 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 866 contributions totaling $182,328 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $211 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)