The politics in 66609 Topeka, KS are largely dictated by the political makeup of the state of Kansas as a whole. The current governor of Kansas is Republican Laura Kelly and the current US Senators are Republicans Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts. At the local level, politics in 66609 Topeka, KS are influenced by the city's mayor, Michelle De La Isla. De La Isla was elected in 2019 and is an advocate for social justice and progressive policies. She has pushed for investments in public transit, affordable housing initiatives, and economic development projects within the city limits. Additionally, she has worked with county officials to ensure that those programs are funded and implemented effectively. In addition to Mayor De La Isla, residents of 66609 Topeka, KS can vote for representatives on their city council or school board from either major party depending on their district's representation. Local elections often feature debates around issues such as public safety, infrastructure improvements, tax reform and environmental protection policies.
The political climate in Zip 66609 (Topeka, KS) is leaning liberal.
Shawnee County, KS is leaning liberal. In Shawnee County, KS 49.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 47.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Shawnee county flipped Democratic, 49.9% to 47.0%.
Shawnee county flipped Democratic after voting Republican in the previous five Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 66609 (Topeka, KS) is leaning liberal.
Topeka, Kansas is leaning liberal.
Shawnee County, Kansas is leaning liberal.
Topeka Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Kansas is somewhat 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.
Topeka, Kansas: r r r r r 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 66609 (Topeka)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 134 contributions totaling $9,687 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $72 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 22 contributions totaling $8,070 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $367 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)