The city of Des Moines, Iowa is the capital of the state and is located in Polk County. This area is home to a relatively diverse population, with approximately 216,000 people living in the city. Politically, Des Moines is a Democratic stronghold. In 2020, Joe Biden won over 83% of votes in the county and City Council members are overwhelmingly Democratic as well. The City Council is responsible for setting policy related to public safety and economic development for this region. Local citizens can get involved in politics by joining community organizations or attending local government meetings. Additionally, local candidates running for office can be found on the Iowa Secretary of State's website. By staying informed and participating in local politics, residents can have a say in how their city is governed and what policies are implemented.
The political climate in Zip 50317 (Des Moines, IA) is somewhat liberal.
Polk County, IA is somewhat liberal. In Polk County, IA 56.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Polk county remained very strongly Democratic, 56.5% to 41.3%.
Polk county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 50317 (Des Moines, IA) is somewhat liberal.
Des Moines, Iowa is somewhat liberal.
Polk County, Iowa is somewhat liberal.
Des Moines-West Des Moines Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
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.
Des Moines, Iowa: d d D D D D
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 50317 (Des Moines)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 508 contributions totaling $41,477 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $82 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 140 contributions totaling $18,021 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $129 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)