The politics in 59602 Helena Valley West Central, MT are heavily influenced by the local population. The community is mostly composed of conservative-leaning voters, with a small percentage of more liberal-minded individuals. Local elections are competitive and typically feature several candidates for each office. Recent elections have seen Republican candidates prevail more often than not, but there have been some exceptions where Democrats have made successful bids for local office. The biggest issue facing the area is economic development and job growth, as the community struggles with poverty and unemployment rates that are higher than the state average. Education funding is also an important concern, as many residents feel that their children don’t have access to the same educational opportunities as other Montanans. Other issues of importance include public safety and infrastructure improvements. Local political candidates play an important role in addressing these issues, by proposing new legislation and advocating for better resources to invest in the community.
The political climate in Zip 59602 (Helena Valley West Central, MT) is somewhat conservative.
Lewis and Clark County, MT is leaning conservative. In Lewis and Clark County, MT 46.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 50.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Lewis and Clark county remained Republican, 50.6% to 46.7%.
Lewis and Clark county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 59602 (Helena Valley West Central, MT) is somewhat conservative.
Helena Valley West Central, Montana is somewhat conservative.
Lewis and Clark County, Montana is leaning conservative.
Helena Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
Montana is moderately 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.
Helena Valley West Central, Montana: R R d r 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 59602 (Helena Valley West Central)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,750 contributions totaling $143,453 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $82 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 217 contributions totaling $77,635 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $358 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)