The small town of Laurel, IA, located in the zip code 50141, is home to a vibrant community and many exciting activities. With a population of just over 800 people, Laurel is a tight-knit community that takes pride in its local politics. Residents stay involved and informed about local issues by attending city council meetings and staying up-to-date on news from their nearby county seat of Osceola. The city council consists of five members who are elected by the citizens every four years. Working alongside the mayor, they make decisions that ensure Laurel remains a safe and prosperous place for all residents to live. The mayor and city council work hard to keep the town鈥檚 taxes low while still providing essential services like police protection, fire safety, road maintenance and other public works projects. It is important for residents to stay engaged in these local political processes so they can provide input on important issues such as housing developments, economic growth initiatives or zoning regulations that affect their daily lives.
The political climate in Zip 50141 (Laurel, IA) is somewhat conservative.
Marshall County, IA is leaning conservative. In Marshall County, IA 45.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 52.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Marshall county remained moderately Republican, 52.8% to 45.1%.
Marshall county voted Republican in four of the six previous Presidential elections (2008 and 2012 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 50141 (Laurel, IA) is somewhat conservative.
Laurel, Iowa is somewhat conservative.
Marshall County, Iowa is leaning conservative.
Marshalltown Metro Area is leaning 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.
Laurel, Iowa: r r 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 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 50141 (Laurel)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2 contributions totaling $0 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $0 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 6 contributions totaling $1,300 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $217 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)