In the small town of Raritan, IL (61471), the politics are largely centered around local issues that will have an impact on the community. Elected officials at the local level strive to make decisions that promote economic growth, provide adequate services and amenities for their residents, and create a safe and secure environment for everyone in the community. The current mayor is Thomas Gittings, who has served since 2019. He is supported by a city council made up of six members who serve four-year terms. In addition to these elected officials, there are many volunteers in the community who work hard to ensure that Raritan remains a great place to live. From running campaigns for candidates to attending city council meetings and advocating for their interests, they are a vital part of how local politics works in Raritan.
The political climate in Zip 61471 (Raritan, IL) is strongly conservative.
Henderson County, IL is very conservative. In Henderson County, IL 32.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 65.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Henderson county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 65.5% to 32.5%.
Henderson county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 61471 (Raritan, IL) is strongly conservative.
Raritan, Illinois is strongly conservative.
Henderson County, Illinois is very conservative.
Burlington Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
Illinois 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.
Raritan, Illinois: 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 zip 61471 (Raritan)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 0 contributions totaling $0 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $0 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 0 contributions totaling $0 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $0 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)