Preston, IA is a small town located in the eastern part of the state, and its politics reflect the values of its tight-knit community. Preston is governed by a five-member City Council elected from four wards and one at-large seat. The current mayor is Tom Keating, who was first elected in 2018. Issues currently under consideration include local business development, infrastructure improvement, and environmental protection. Townspeople also remain engaged on national issues such as immigration and health care reform through their representation in Congress by Representative Abby Finkenauer. Overall, Preston’s politics are reflective of a community that values fiscal responsibility, civic engagement, and protecting its environment for future generations.
The political climate in Preston, IA is strongly conservative.
Jackson County, IA is strongly conservative. In Jackson County, IA 36.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 62.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Jackson county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 62.3% to 36.2%.
Jackson county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Preston, IA is strongly conservative.
Jackson County, Iowa 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.
Preston, 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 Preston, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2 contributions totaling $0 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $0 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 9 contributions totaling $1,140 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $127 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)