Decatur County, Iowa is an interesting political landscape. Located in the midwestern part of the United States, it is home to several small towns and rural areas. Historically, its politics have been largely conservative but in recent years there has been a noticeable shift towards more progressive ideas. Many candidates run for local office every election cycle, from school boards to county officials. They typically come from a wide range of backgrounds and party affiliations, allowing these races to become highly contested and competitive. The county’s residents are passionate about their politics and take an active role in the campaigns and elections that shape their community. Since Decatur County is also located on the border of two different states, candidates often emphasize the need to unify both sides for the betterment of both regions. With such a diverse group of candidates vying for local offices, Decatur County is an exciting place for those interested in Iowa politics.
The political climate in Decatur County, IA is very conservative.
In Decatur County, IA 29.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 68.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Decatur county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 68.7% to 29.4%.
Decatur county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Decatur County, IA is very conservative.
Not Found Metro Area is 0.
Iowa 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.
Decatur, Iowa: 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, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 988 contributions totaling $33,325 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $34 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 42 contributions totaling $6,173 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $147 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)