The politics in the 50312 Des Moines, IA area are quite diverse and interesting. There is a large population of people who identify as Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and other affiliations. The city has two local representatives in the Iowa House of Representatives; Todd Prichard (D) and Brian Lohse (R). Politically active organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood, and League of Women Voters have strong presences in the city and regularly host events to discuss their policies. Additionally, Des Moines is home to many community leaders that are dedicated to making sure local residents have access to quality services and resources from their government. These leaders work hard to ensure that all residents receive fair representation at all levels of government.
The political climate in Zip 50312 (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 50312 (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 50312 (Des Moines)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 4,330 contributions totaling $1,363,171 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $315 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 933 contributions totaling $488,750 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $524 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)