Des Moines, IA, with its zip code 50316, is the capital city of the great state of Iowa. It is a thriving and vibrant city filled with many attractions and activities for both residents and visitors alike. Politically, it is an important center, with a wide range of political views held by its citizens. As the capital, it serves as home to a variety of important government offices, including that of the Governor of Iowa and numerous state legislature representatives. Furthermore, Des Moines holds many local elections in which candidates from both major parties compete to become their party’s nominee for various elected positions. The campaigns that ensue during these elections generate much discussion amongst citizens and help to shape the political landscape of the city.
The political climate in Zip 50316 (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 50316 (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 50316 (Des Moines)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 60 contributions totaling $16,192 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $270 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 31 contributions totaling $7,238 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $233 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)