The rural town of Keystone, MN is home to a close-knit community where politics are discussed informally and passionately. The local political landscape is dominated by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), with many residents actively participating in party activities. Every two years, residents come together to elect the mayor and a few council members, as well as vote on important initiatives such as bond issuances and tax levies. In addition to the local elections, residents are also influenced by state and national issues that touch on topics such as healthcare access, civil rights, education reform, and gun control. As a result of this dynamic political environment, Keystone citizens engage in meaningful conversations about policy solutions that reflect their values and beliefs.
The political climate in Keystone, MN is strongly conservative.
Polk County, MN is strongly conservative. In Polk County, MN 34.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 63.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Polk county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 63.3% to 34.9%.
Polk county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Keystone, MN is strongly conservative.
Polk County, Minnesota is strongly conservative.
Grand Forks Metro Area is moderately conservative.
Minnesota is leaning liberal.
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.
Keystone, Minnesota: R R d 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 Keystone, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 391 contributions totaling $9,369 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $24 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 59 contributions totaling $24,179 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $410 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)