Dayton, IA is a small community located in central Iowa with a population of around 1,750 people. The city has an active local government which is managed by Mayor Larry Van Trees and four City Council Members. The local government is responsible for setting the local tax rates, developing the municipal budget, and addressing zoning and development issues within the city. Additionally, they work closely with county and state officials to ensure that all Dayton residents have access to necessary resources. Local politics in Dayton are largely guided by traditional Midwestern values such as hard work, responsibility, and respect for others. Politicians strive to create an environment where everyone can have a voice and be heard without fear of judgement or criticism. All elected officials pledge to focus on policies that benefit their constituents no matter what their political affiliations might be.
The political climate in Dayton, IA is moderately conservative.
Webster County, IA is strongly conservative. In Webster County, IA 37.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 61.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Webster county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 61.4% to 37.1%.
Webster county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Dayton, IA is moderately conservative.
Webster County, Iowa is strongly conservative.
Fort Dodge Metro Area is strongly 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.
Dayton, 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 Dayton, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 12 contributions totaling $341 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $28 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 6 contributions totaling $1,435 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $239 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)