Oak Lake, SD is a small town located in the Midwest region of the United States. It has a population of around 5,000 people and is mainly comprised of working-class citizens. It is not a particularly politically active area, as most residents are more focused on their daily lives than on political matters. In local elections, citizens elect officials who represent their interests and keep an eye out for any changes that may affect the community as a whole. The current mayor is Richard Smith, who has been in office since 2019 and been reelected once already due to his progressive policies and adherence to the values of the town's citizens. He has worked with other local leaders to create initiatives that will improve Oak Lake, such as investment in infrastructure projects and economic development initiatives. Additionally, he has advocated for environmental conservation efforts in order to ensure that future generations can enjoy the natural beauty of Oak Lake for many years to come.
The political climate in Oak Lake, SD is moderately conservative.
Brookings County, SD is somewhat conservative. In Brookings County, SD 41.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 54.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Brookings county remained strongly Republican, 54.9% to 41.9%.
Brookings county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Oak Lake, SD is moderately conservative.
Brookings County, South Dakota is somewhat conservative.
Brookings Metro Area is somewhat 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.
Oak Lake, South Dakota: 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 Oak Lake, SD
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 54 contributions totaling $1,134 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $21 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 12 contributions totaling $396 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $33 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)