Mahaska County, Iowa is a beautiful area located in the southeastern part of the state. The county has a strong sense of community that is reflected in its politics. Political engagement is an important part of life in Mahaska County and residents are encouraged to take part in local government activities. Local elections for Mahaska County involve voting on board members, school boards and other issues such as taxes and laws. There are several political parties represented throughout the county including Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Green Party supporters and Independents. Local candidates have a wide variety of backgrounds and opinions that contribute to the lively political debates that occur throughout election season. It is up to each citizen to be informed about these candidates and their positions to ensure they are making an informed decision when it comes time to vote.
The political climate in Mahaska County, IA is very conservative.
In Mahaska County, IA 25.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 72.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Mahaska county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 72.8% to 25.4%.
Mahaska county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Mahaska County, IA is very conservative.
Oskaloosa Metro Area is very conservative.
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.
Mahaska, 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 Mahaska County, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 499 contributions totaling $25,411 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $51 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 239 contributions totaling $115,582 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $484 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)