Fort Smith, AR located in zip code 72916 is a city that is governed by a local mayor and city council. The current mayor is George McGill who was elected in 2018. The City Council consists of seven members who are elected to serve four year terms with elections being held every two years. Each member represents one of the seven wards which make up the city. Their responsibilities include setting policy, enforcing laws, and developing plans for the future of Fort Smith. As part of their duties they hold public meetings to discuss current issues and hear from citizens about their concerns. They are also responsible for making sure that services such as water, sewer, garbage collection, police protection and public works are properly maintained and provided. Additionally, they have established various committees to help develop policies regarding economic development, land use and zoning regulations. Through these efforts Fort Smith residents have access to many opportunities for growth while remaining true to its roots as a small yet vibrant community.
The political climate in Zip 72916 (Fort Smith, AR) is strongly conservative.
Sebastian County, AR is very conservative. In Sebastian County, AR 30.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 66.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Sebastian county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 66.2% to 30.7%.
Sebastian county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 72916 (Fort Smith, AR) is strongly conservative.
Fort Smith, Arkansas is strongly conservative.
Sebastian County, Arkansas is very conservative.
Fort Smith Metro Area is very conservative.
Arkansas is strongly 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.
Fort Smith, Arkansas: R R R 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 72916 (Fort Smith)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 336 contributions totaling $33,801 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $101 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 197 contributions totaling $79,700 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $405 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)