Decatur, Georgia is located in DeKalb County and is a small city of approximately 20,000 people. The politics here are largely determined by the county government in DeKalb County. The county is run by a five member Board Of Commissioners, each representing a different district within the county. Each commissioner is elected to serve four-year terms and they appoint the chairperson of the board. The current Board Of Commissioners includes Mereda Davis Johnson (Chair), Steve Bradshaw (Vice Chair), Lorraine Cochran-Johnson (District 1), Jeff Rader (District 2) and Larry Johnson (District 3). While there are no local candidates running for office in Decatur itself, residents can get involved with local politics by engaging with their respective representatives on issues that pertain to their everyday lives. Additionally, residents can vote in primary and general elections which will determine who represents them at both state and federal levels of government. By being an active participant in DeKalb County’s political system, Decatur residents can help shape the future of their city and ensure its success for many years to come.
The political climate in Decatur County, GA is moderately conservative.
In Decatur County, GA 41.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 58.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 0.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Decatur county remained very strongly Republican, 58.1% to 41.1%.
Decatur county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Decatur County, GA is moderately conservative.
Bainbridge Metro Area is moderately conservative.
Georgia 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.
Decatur, Georgia: 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 Decatur County, GA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 232 contributions totaling $12,137 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $52 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 121 contributions totaling $27,328 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $226 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)