The politics in 33811 Lakeland, FL are centered around the local government of Polk County and the representation it receives from the Florida Legislature. As a part of the county, citizens of Lakeland are served by three representatives in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate. In addition to these elected officials, there are numerous local initiatives taking place in Lakeland such as city council meetings and school board meetings. Local non-profit organizations also take part in these discussions to ensure that all perspectives are taken into consideration when making decisions that affect the area. With so many different voices participating in civic engagement, Lakeland is a great example of what it means to be an involved member of the community with regard to political discourse.
The political climate in Zip 33811 (Lakeland, FL) is somewhat conservative.
Polk County, FL is somewhat conservative. In Polk County, FL 42.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 56.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Polk county remained strongly Republican, 56.6% to 42.2%.
Polk county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 33811 (Lakeland, FL) is somewhat conservative.
Lakeland, Florida is somewhat conservative.
Polk County, Florida is somewhat conservative.
Lakeland-Winter Haven Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
Florida 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.
Lakeland, Florida: 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 33811 (Lakeland)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 387 contributions totaling $14,540 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $38 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 201 contributions totaling $24,623 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $123 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)