Elkader, IA is a small rural town located in Clayton County with a population of just over 1,000 people. The town's government is led by a five-member City Council who are responsible for making decisions on local issues such as budgets, ordinances, and development projects. The mayoral post is held by Mayor David Larson who was elected in 2012 and is currently serving his third term in office. Other political leaders include the city clerk, treasurer, assessor, and other appointed members of the municipal staff. Locally-elected candidates also help to keep Elkader running smoothly; their roles encompass everything from enacting policies to managing finances and overseeing all facets of the town鈥檚 business. Despite its size, Elkader has a vibrant civic and political life that shapes its future.
The political climate in Elkader, IA is moderately conservative.
Clayton County, IA is strongly conservative. In Clayton County, IA 34.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 63.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Clayton county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 63.6% to 34.8%.
Clayton county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Elkader, IA is moderately conservative.
Clayton County, Iowa is strongly conservative.
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.
Elkader, Iowa: d d 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 if the Democratic Party candidate won and I if the Independent Party candidate won. 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 Elkader, IA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 97 contributions totaling $34,539 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $356 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 31 contributions totaling $8,987 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $290 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)