The Watertown, SD Metro Area is a politically active area with diverse opinions and stances on issues. Within the metro area, there are many elected officials who serve in both state and local levels of government. Some notable politicians include Senator John Thune, Representative Dusty Johnson, and Secretary of State Shantel Krebs. These members have a strong presence in the political arena of the Watertown Metro Area and frequently engage with constituents to discuss topics relevant to their region. Additionally, there are numerous community groups in the metro area that are actively involved in educating citizens on important matters regarding politics and policy. These organizations hold regular meetings to discuss issues ranging from taxes to education reform. Through these groups, individuals can become more informed about their local politics and even become personally involved themselves.
The political climate in Watertown Metro Area is very conservative.
In Watertown Metro Area 29.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 68.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, the Watertown metro area remained overwhelmingly Republican, 68.1% to 29.2%.
The Watertown metro area voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Watertown Metro Area is very conservative.
South Dakota is strongly 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.
Watertown, South Dakota: 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 four elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Watertown Metro Area
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 263 contributions totaling $18,254 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $69 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 469 contributions totaling $164,884 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $352 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)