Politics in Alden, IA are largely influenced by the local government and the community. Elected officials serve on the City Council and Board of Supervisors to make decisions on behalf of the citizens. The City Council is responsible for making decisions on matters such as city infrastructure, economic development, public health, and other municipal issues. There is a Mayor-Council form of government with the Mayor elected at-large every two years. The mayor appoints members to various boards and commissions that serve the community. The Board of Supervisors is responsible for providing fiscal oversight and approving budgets for county services. Elections in Alden, IA are nonpartisan with candidates registering as an ‘independent’ or ‘write-in’ candidate. All registered voters in Alden have an opportunity to participate in elections by voting in person or absentee ballot.
The political climate in Alden, IA is strongly conservative.
Hardin County, IA is very conservative. In Hardin County, IA 33.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 65.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Hardin county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 65.1% to 33.1%.
Hardin county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Alden, IA is strongly conservative.
Hardin County, Iowa is very conservative.
Iowa is leaning conservative.
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.
Alden, Iowa: 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 Alden, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 119 contributions totaling $1,686 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $14 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 33 contributions totaling $153,011 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $4,637 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)