Bernard, IA is a small rural town nestled in the rolling hills and cornfields of eastern Iowa. Its population is just over 500 people, and the community is known for its close-knit atmosphere and friendly smiles. The town’s politics are often reflective of the surrounding area’s conservative attitude, but there are certain progressive policies that have been embraced by both local and state-level officials. For example, Bernard was one of the first towns in Iowa to pass an ordinance that offered protections for members of the LGBTQ+ community. In terms of local political candidates, Bernard usually has a few people running for mayor or city council each election cycle, with most candidates taking a moderate stance on issues important to the town. Voters often choose their candidate based on personal relationships and trustworthiness rather than strictly following party lines. Regardless of who holds office in Bernard, it's clear that civic engagement is important to residents here - from voting in local elections to participating in volunteer activities around the community.
The political climate in Bernard, IA is moderately conservative.
Dubuque County, IA is leaning conservative. In Dubuque County, IA 47.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 50.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Dubuque county remained Republican, 50.5% to 47.6%.
Dubuque county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Bernard, IA is moderately conservative.
Dubuque County, Iowa is leaning conservative.
Dubuque 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.
Bernard, Iowa: 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 Bernard, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2 contributions totaling $300 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $150 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 5 contributions totaling $7,050 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,410 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)