Stoughton, Wisconsin is a small town located in Dane County. It is known for its rich history and friendly community atmosphere. The politics of Stoughton differ from other cities and towns throughout Wisconsin due to its relatively small population size. Due to the smaller population, the city of Stoughton only has two local political candidates running each election cycle, one for mayor and one for alderperson. These candidates are chosen by the citizens of Stoughton during primary elections and then both move on to compete in the final election. The mayor is elected every four years while the alderperson stays in office for two years before being replaced by another new candidate. While many political issues affect all of Wisconsin, such as education and healthcare reform, many of the decisions made in Stoughton are unique to the city itself. Issues such as zoning ordinances, economic development programs, and public safety initiatives all fall under control of local government officials. This ensures that citizens have direct representation when it comes to making important decisions in their own backyard.
The political climate in Stoughton, WI is somewhat liberal.
Dane County, WI is very liberal. In Dane County, WI 75.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 22.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Dane county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 75.5% to 22.9%.
Dane county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Stoughton, WI is somewhat liberal.
Dane County, Wisconsin is very liberal.
Madison Metro Area is very liberal.
Wisconsin 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.
Stoughton, Wisconsin: D D D D D D
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 Stoughton, WI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,217 contributions totaling $85,532 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $70 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 326 contributions totaling $42,269 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $130 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)