Hastings, NE is a small town of approximately 24,000 people located in the south-central part of the state. The city is served by a mayor and six city council members elected to represent its citizens. In recent years, Hastings has seen continued growth and prosperity due to its strong economy and active local government. Political issues such as economic development, infrastructure projects, public safety, and quality of life initiatives are regularly discussed at City Council meetings. The current Mayor is Paul Leggett who was first elected in 2015 and has since been reelected twice for a total of three terms. The City Council consists of two at-large representatives and four district representatives from each quadrant of the city. Each of these representatives are responsible for representing the interests of their respective constituents while also looking at what’s best for the community as a whole. Through their oversight, Hastings has become one of Nebraska’s most desirable places to live, work, and play.
The political climate in Hastings, NE is moderately conservative.
Adams County, NE is very conservative. In Adams County, NE 28.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 68.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Adams county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 68.8% to 28.8%.
Adams county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Hastings, NE is moderately conservative.
Adams County, Nebraska is very conservative.
Hastings Metro Area is very conservative.
Nebraska is moderately 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.
Hastings, Nebraska: 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 Hastings, NE
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,102 contributions totaling $33,737 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $31 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 324 contributions totaling $36,803 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $114 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)