The small town of Bentley, IA is largely an agricultural community surrounded by rolling hills and peaceful farmland. It is home to a tight-knit community of active citizens who value hard work and dedication. The town's politics are focused on keeping this small town atmosphere preserved and promoting a sense of unity and pride among its citizens. Local elections often include debates about issues including taxes, public services, infrastructure, education, and local businesses among others. Candidates often have very different views on the most effective ways to address each issue, but they always share the goal of doing what’s best for the community as a whole. Discussions in the past have been civil and constructive, with all voices being respected and heard. This sense of camaraderie has helped make Bentley a place where people are proud to live, work, and raise their families.
The political climate in Bentley, IA is moderately conservative.
Pottawattamie County, IA is moderately conservative. In Pottawattamie County, IA 40.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 57.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Pottawattamie county remained very strongly Republican, 57.4% to 40.6%.
Pottawattamie county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Bentley, IA is moderately conservative.
Pottawattamie County, Iowa is moderately conservative.
Omaha-Council Bluffs Metro Area is leaning 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.
Bentley, Iowa: R R r 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 Bentley, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 54 contributions totaling $1,924 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $36 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 21 contributions totaling $3,068 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $146 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)