The 98626 zip code of Kelso, WA is located in Cowlitz County and is a part of Washington's 3rd Congressional District. The politics in this area are generally quite conservative, and the voters tend to support candidates from the Republican party. There has been an increasing trend of support for more progressive candidates over recent years, however, as citizens become more interested in issues such as climate change and economic justice. Additionally, the area has seen more direct activism in local campaigns as citizens become invested in their community's future. Local political engagement varies from issue-based advocacy to full-scale campaigns for elected offices at all levels of government. Citizens are encouraged to stay informed about the political landscape and get involved through voting, joining grassroots organizations, or running for office themselves.
The political climate in Zip 98626 (Kelso, WA) is somewhat conservative.
Cowlitz County, WA is moderately conservative. In Cowlitz County, WA 39.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 57.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Cowlitz county remained very strongly Republican, 57.1% to 39.7%.
Cowlitz county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 98626 (Kelso, WA) is somewhat conservative.
Kelso, Washington is somewhat conservative.
Cowlitz County, Washington is moderately conservative.
Longview Metro Area is moderately conservative.
Washington is moderately liberal.
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.
Kelso, Washington: 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 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 98626 (Kelso)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 526 contributions totaling $30,046 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $57 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 188 contributions totaling $49,441 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $263 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)