Zeeland, MI is a town located in Ottawa County along the western shore of Lake Michigan. The town has a rich history dating back to the early 1800s as an important center for commerce and industry. Today, Zeeland is home to a diverse population of approximately 5,000 people and continues to be an important part of the local economy. Politically, Zeeland is a part of the 89th district in the Michigan House of Representatives. The current representative is Rep. Bradley Slagh who was elected in 2018 and serves on various committees including Education, Veterans and Military Affairs, and Regulatory Reform. At the local level, voters in Zeeland participate in county-level elections which take place every two years for members of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners. Additionally, mayoral elections are held every four years with the current mayor being Kenneth Komejan who was elected in 2017. In summary, politics play an important role in Zeeland with both local elections and representation at the state level helping to shape policy decisions that impact residents on a daily basis.
The political climate in Zeeland, MI is moderately conservative.
Ottawa County, MI is moderately conservative. In Ottawa County, MI 38.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 59.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Ottawa county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 59.8% to 38.4%.
Ottawa county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zeeland, MI is moderately conservative.
Ottawa County, Michigan is moderately conservative.
Grand Rapids-Kentwood Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Michigan is leaning 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.
Zeeland, Michigan: 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 if the Democratic Party candidate won and I if the Independent Party candidate won. 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 Zeeland, MI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 43 contributions totaling $15,049 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $350 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 239 contributions totaling $62,498 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $262 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)