DeSoto County, Florida is located in the southwestern region of the state and is known for its rural landscapes and friendly people. Politically, it is a heavily Republican county with over two-thirds of registered voters identifying as such. The County Commission and Board of Commissioners have several positions that are held by local Republicans including the Chairperson, Sheriff, Clerk of the Circuit Court and Property Appraiser. DeSoto also has several cities that have their own local governments. These city governments are typically composed of an elected mayor and four council members who are chosen to represent different areas in their respective cities. Local candidates for public office come from all political backgrounds, though Republicans tend to dominate the elections throughout DeSoto County.
The political climate in DeSoto County, FL is strongly conservative.
In DeSoto County, FL 33.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 65.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 0.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, DeSoto county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 65.6% to 33.6%.
DeSoto county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
DeSoto County, FL is strongly conservative.
Arcadia Metro Area is strongly conservative.
Florida is leaning 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.
DeSoto, Florida: 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 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 DeSoto County, FL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 144 contributions totaling $10,121 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $70 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 148 contributions totaling $180,113 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,217 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)