Wapello, IA County has a long history of political activity. It is home to several local elected officials, such as the county board of supervisors and the mayor. The county also elects representatives to the Iowa House of Representatives and Iowa Senate. Elections in Wapello, IA County are conducted by the county auditor and include measures for addressing local issues such as infrastructure, education, public safety, and economic development. Political parties are also well represented in the area with Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and independents all playing a role in local politics. As an important part of Eastern Iowa’s political landscape, Wapello, IA County remains committed to its mission of promoting responsible government policies that benefit all residents and promote prosperity throughout the region.
The political climate in Wapello County, IA is moderately conservative.
In Wapello County, IA 37.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 60.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Wapello county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 60.9% to 37.2%.
Wapello county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Wapello County, IA is moderately conservative.
Ottumwa Metro Area is strongly 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.
Wapello, Iowa: D D D D 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 Wapello County, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 471 contributions totaling $41,948 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $89 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 383 contributions totaling $53,984 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $141 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)