The city of Ladysmith, WI is a small, rural town located in Rusk County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,564. It is governed by an elected mayor and seven-member city council. The current mayor of Ladysmith is Jamison Koehler and the city council consists of Bill Schanilec (President), John Derosiers (Vice President), Jody Aderman, Gary Anliker, Joyce Fettinger, Thomas Kalata and Joanne Schmeling. This small community has had a long history with politics; from issues such as taxation to redevelopment in the downtown area. Due to its small size, local politics are often discussed amongst citizens and ideas are taken into consideration by both elected officials and the community alike. Residents take pride in their local government's ability to address their concerns responsibly and effectively.
The political climate in Zip 54848 (Ladysmith, WI) is strongly conservative.
Rusk County, WI is very conservative. In Rusk County, WI 31.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 66.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Rusk county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 66.7% to 31.9%.
Rusk county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 54848 (Ladysmith, WI) is strongly conservative.
Ladysmith, Wisconsin is strongly conservative.
Rusk County, Wisconsin is very conservative.
Not Found Metro Area is 0.
Wisconsin is leaning liberal.
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.
Ladysmith, Wisconsin: 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 54848 (Ladysmith)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 279 contributions totaling $23,228 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $83 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 22 contributions totaling $7,990 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $363 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)