Washburn County, Wisconsin is an area of beautiful natural landscape and abundant outdoor recreation opportunities. It is a largely rural county with a population of 16,159 as of the most recent census. Washburn County is known for its strong commitment to local politics and engaging citizens in decision-making processes. Every election cycle, local government invites candidates to run for office, giving residents an opportunity to elect representatives that best reflect their values and needs. The county’s political candidates are typically held accountable by constituents, who take an active role in ensuring that they are making smart decisions and advocating on behalf of the people and businesses within the community. As a result of this level of engagement, Washburn County has seen positive impacts on its overall quality of life due to effective governance from elected officials.
The political climate in Washburn County, WI is moderately conservative.
In Washburn County, WI 37.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 61.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Washburn county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 61.0% to 37.3%.
Washburn county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Washburn County, WI is moderately conservative.
Not Found Metro Area is 0.
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.
Washburn, Wisconsin: 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 for the Democrat and I for the Independent. 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 Washburn County, WI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 456 contributions totaling $26,112 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $57 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 182 contributions totaling $96,866 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $532 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)