Winter Haven, FL is located in Polk County and is a part of the larger Tampa Bay metro area. As such, local politics reflect the county-wide issues and values that exist throughout the area. The local government is run by a mayor and several city commissioners who are all elected by residents of the city. In recent years, some of the most pressing issues have been environmental conservation, economic development, public infrastructure improvements, and access to quality education. The current mayor has championed initiatives aimed at improving educational opportunities for students in the area, as well as increasing funding for public parks and recreational activities. He has also made sure that Winter Haven's economy remains strong by creating incentives for businesses to invest in the city and create jobs. Additionally, he has worked with other mayors in Polk County to ensure that local cities work together to create a better future for everyone living in this vibrant region of Florida.
The political climate in Zip 33881 (Winter Haven, FL) is leaning conservative.
Polk County, FL is somewhat conservative. In Polk County, FL 42.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 56.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Polk county remained strongly Republican, 56.6% to 42.2%.
Polk county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 33881 (Winter Haven, FL) is leaning conservative.
Winter Haven, Florida is leaning conservative.
Polk County, Florida is somewhat conservative.
Lakeland-Winter Haven Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
Florida 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.
Winter Haven, Florida: 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 zip 33881 (Winter Haven)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,210 contributions totaling $69,719 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $58 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 211 contributions totaling $33,295 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $158 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)