Hot Springs, South Dakota is a small town located in the southwestern part of the state. It has a population of just over 3,000 people and is known for its hot springs, which give the town its name. The local political scene is relatively quiet in Hot Springs. The Mayor of Hot Springs is Jim Zabonik and there are four City Council members, each serving four-year terms. There are also several other local offices, such as those for Sheriff, Treasurer, Auditor, and Coroner. All these positions are held by elected officials who are voted in by the citizens of Hot Springs. Generally speaking, the local politics in Hot Springs tend to be quite conservative with support for traditional values and fiscal responsibility being important issues for many candidates. Additionally, local initiatives to improve community safety and economic development have been supported by both major parties. Overall, the politics in Hot Springs provides citizens with a range of different perspectives that helps keep decisions focused on what’s best for the community as a whole.
The political climate in Hot Springs, SD is strongly conservative.
Fall River County, SD is very conservative. In Fall River County, SD 26.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 71.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Fall River county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 71.2% to 26.1%.
Fall River county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Hot Springs, SD is strongly conservative.
Fall River County, South Dakota is very conservative.
South Dakota is strongly 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.
Hot Springs, South Dakota: 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 Hot Springs, SD
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 122 contributions totaling $7,719 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $63 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 103 contributions totaling $13,903 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $135 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)