Benton County, Indiana is a rural area with a population of approximately 8,500 people. The county has a strong history of local politics and is led by a Board of Commissioners which is elected every four years by the residents. The board consists of three members who are responsible for making important decisions which affect the county. These decisions range from setting tax rates to deciding on how to allocate funds for new infrastructure projects. In addition to the Board of Commissioners, there are also several other elected offices such as Sheriff, Precinct Trustee, and Coroner that serve the citizens in Benton County. Each election cycle brings new faces into office as the residents of Benton County continue to demonstrate their commitment to self-governance and local politics.
The political climate in Benton County, IN is very conservative.
In Benton County, IN 24.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 73.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Benton county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 73.1% to 24.5%.
Benton county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Benton County, IN is very conservative.
Lafayette-West Lafayette Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Indiana is somewhat 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.
Benton, Indiana: 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 Benton County, IN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 108 contributions totaling $6,256 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $58 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 127 contributions totaling $19,606 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $154 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)