Zapata County, located in south Texas, is a primarily rural county with a population of 14,415. The local government is led by the Zapata County Commissioners Court which consists of five elected officials. These individuals are responsible for developing the county’s budget and addressing the needs of the community. Additionally, they select court-appointed officials such as the Sheriff and justices of the peace. Voters in Zapata County have several opportunities to participate in the political process; they elect representatives to Congress, state legilslative seats, and county offices such as district attorney and tax assessor-collector. In recent years there has been an intense focus on issues concerning immigration policy that are critical to many residents living in Zapata County. As a result, voters have organized rallies and protests to vocalize their opinion on this important issue. Overall, politics in Zapata County reflects the diverse needs of its citizens as well as their deep commitment to civic engagement.
The political climate in Zapata County, TX is leaning conservative.
In Zapata County, TX 47.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 52.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 0.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Zapata county flipped moderately Republican, 52.5% to 47.1%.
Zapata county flipped Republican afer voting Democratic in the previous five Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zapata County, TX is leaning conservative.
Zapata Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Texas 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.
Zapata, Texas: D D D D D 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 Zapata County, TX
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 101 contributions totaling $4,297 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $43 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 10 contributions totaling $3,650 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $365 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)