Portsmouth, Iowa is a vibrant and growing community that is passionate about local politics. With a population of around 2,100 people, Portsmouth has seen growth in its residential areas in recent years. The city council consists of five members who are elected every two years and serve four-year terms. The mayor is appointed by the city council and also serves a four-year term. The members strive to make sure that all voices are heard and considered when making decisions for the town. Recently, Portsmouth passed an ordinance that requires all city workers to receive fair pay for their work. This ordinance reflects the importance of looking out for the rights of citizens as well as the commitment from Portsmouth’s leadership to look out for those less fortunate than themselves. There are several local candidates running for office this year and it will be interesting to see what policies they put forward if they are elected into office. The residents of Portsmouth take great pride in their political system and are eager to see what changes may be made in the upcoming election cycle.
The political climate in Portsmouth, IA is very conservative.
Shelby County, IA is very conservative. In Shelby County, IA 28.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 69.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.0% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Shelby county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 69.1% to 28.8%.
Shelby county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Portsmouth, IA is very conservative.
Shelby 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.
Portsmouth, 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 Portsmouth, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 0 contributions totaling $0 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $0 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 0 contributions totaling $0 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $0 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)