52358 West Branch, IA is a small community in Cedar County with a close-knit population of under 1,000 residents. Despite its size, politics in this rural Iowa town are still an important part of its culture and identity. Political issues that affect the entire state of Iowa often take priority here, as many locals have strong opinions on things like education funding, public health initiatives, and even same-sex marriage laws. Local political candidates running for office in 52358 West Branch tend to focus on these larger state issues while also promoting their own values and platforms. People in 52358 West Branch routinely participate in campaigns, debates, and other activities that can help shape the political landscape in their hometown. Ultimately, local politics is an important factor when it comes to life in 52358 West Branch.
The political climate in Zip 52358 (West Branch, IA) is moderately conservative.
Cedar County, IA is moderately conservative. In Cedar County, IA 40.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 57.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Cedar county remained very strongly Republican, 57.6% to 40.5%.
Cedar county voted Republican in 2020, 2016 and 2004, and Democratic in 2012, 2008 and 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 52358 (West Branch, IA) is moderately conservative.
West Branch, Iowa is moderately conservative.
Cedar County, Iowa is moderately conservative.
Not Found Metro Area is 0.
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.
West Branch, Iowa: d r 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 52358 (West Branch)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 329 contributions totaling $22,727 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $69 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 56 contributions totaling $8,009 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $143 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)