Watertown, South Dakota is a small city located in the northeastern part of the state. It is home to about 22,000 people and serves as the county seat for Codington County. The city's government operates under the Mayor-Council form of government, and citizens are able to engage in politics by voting for local officials every two years. Watertown has a mayor and six council members who serve four year terms. These elected officials work together to develop laws and regulations for the city, approve annual budgets, review and approve contracts, oversee economic development initiatives, and consider various other policy decisions. They also collaborate with other local organizations like schools, businesses, and non-profits to ensure that Watertown remains a safe and productive community. Additionally, residents of Watertown are encouraged to stay informed on current political issues impacting their city by attending public meetings or joining local advocacy groups. By staying involved in local politics, citizens can help shape the future of their community.
The political climate in Watertown, SD is strongly conservative.
Codington County, SD is very conservative. In Codington County, SD 29.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 68.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Codington county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 68.1% to 29.2%.
Codington county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Watertown, SD is strongly conservative.
Codington County, South Dakota is very conservative.
Watertown Metro Area 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.
Watertown, 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 Watertown, SD
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 255 contributions totaling $17,404 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $68 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 456 contributions totaling $162,259 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $356 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)