The city of Des Moines, IA (50311) is a bustling and vibrant metropolis with a population of around 215,000. Politically, it has long been a stronghold of progressive values, represented in the local government by its elected officials from both major political parties. From the Mayor to the City Council members, local politicians are focused on making sure that all voices are heard and respected within Des Moines’ diverse communities. The city is proud to have leaders committed to providing quality public services while protecting civil rights and creating economic opportunities for residents across the city. Through strong community engagement initiatives and initiatives such as establishing living wages for workers, Des Moines strives to ensure that its citizens have access to all the resources necessary to live prosperous lives.
The political climate in Zip 50310 (Des Moines, IA) is somewhat liberal.
Polk County, IA is somewhat liberal. In Polk County, IA 56.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Polk county remained very strongly Democratic, 56.5% to 41.3%.
Polk county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 50310 (Des Moines, IA) is somewhat liberal.
Des Moines, Iowa is somewhat liberal.
Polk County, Iowa is somewhat liberal.
Des Moines-West Des Moines Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
Iowa 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.
Des Moines, Iowa: d d D D D D
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 50310 (Des Moines)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,827 contributions totaling $156,465 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $86 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 270 contributions totaling $79,139 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $293 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)