The city of Sterling, IL (61081) is a relatively small community located in the Northwestern corner of Illinois. It has a population of 15,370 people according to the most recent census data. The city is part of Rock Falls Township and holds local elections every two years. Currently, Joe Martin serves as Mayor and the four Aldermen are Jared Sager, Dave Johnson, Jennifer Jacobs and Matthew Miller. Sterling’s politics are often focused on improving the city’s infrastructure; recently they have implemented a new sewer system and re-paved many roads throughout the city. They also allocate funds for projects such as construction of public parks and subsidizing local schools. The city strongly supports local businesses through incentives and tax breaks, making it an attractive place for entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. In short, the citizens of Sterling take great pride in their city and work hard to ensure that its future is bright by investing into projects that will benefit all citizens who call Sterling home.
The political climate in Zip 61081 (Sterling, IL) is leaning conservative.
Whiteside County, IL is somewhat conservative. In Whiteside County, IL 44.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 53.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Whiteside county remained moderately Republican, 53.0% to 44.7%.
Whiteside county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 61081 (Sterling, IL) is leaning conservative.
Sterling, Illinois is leaning conservative.
Whiteside County, Illinois is somewhat conservative.
Sterling 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.
Sterling, 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 61081 (Sterling)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,073 contributions totaling $56,664 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $53 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 147 contributions totaling $16,730 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $114 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)