Topeka, KS is the capital of the state of Kansas and is an active political center. The city is divided into districts with different representatives in both local and state government. These representatives are responsible for making decisions on behalf of Topeka’s residents, helping to shape the city’s future. In Topeka, voters have the opportunity to shape their city by voting for local mayor and city council members during municipal elections. During these elections, candidates discuss their views on important issues such as public safety, infrastructure improvements, job creation, education, and environmental protection. Every two years, citizens of Topeka also vote for a new state representative in Congress who is responsible for representing their interests to the federal government. All of these elections give Topeka residents an opportunity to make their voices heard and ensure that they have a say in how their city progresses.
The political climate in Topeka, KS is leaning liberal.
Shawnee County, KS is leaning liberal. In Shawnee County, KS 49.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 47.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Shawnee county flipped Democratic, 49.9% to 47.0%.
Shawnee county flipped Democratic after voting Republican in the previous five Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Topeka, KS is leaning liberal.
Shawnee County, Kansas is leaning liberal.
Topeka Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Kansas is somewhat 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.
Topeka, Kansas: r r r r r d
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 Topeka, KS
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 7,571 contributions totaling $564,050 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $75 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,949 contributions totaling $666,658 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $342 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)