The politics in the La Grande, OR Metro Area are mainly driven by local government initiatives such as city ordinances, county regulations, and state-level legislation. The City of La Grande is home to a mayor-council form of government, with five members on the council elected at large. The Union County Board of Commissioners also lays out laws and regulations that affect the overall area in addition to other municipalities within the county. Additionally, Oregon’s state legislature plays a significant role in setting statewide policy which can affect areas like La Grande. From taxes to public safety to education, decisions made in Salem can have ripple effects throughout the metro area.
The political climate in La Grande Metro Area is very conservative.
In La Grande Metro Area 28.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 68.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, the La Grande metro area remained overwhelmingly Republican, 68.9% to 28.5%.
The La Grande metro area voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
La Grande Metro Area is very conservative.
Oregon is moderately liberal.
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.
La Grande, Oregon: 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 La Grande Metro Area
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,626 contributions totaling $75,982 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $47 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 387 contributions totaling $88,969 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $230 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)