Chatham, Illinois is a small town located in Sangamon county, and is home to a population of over 10,000 people. The politics of Chatham are reflective of the national trends. The Republican party is the primary majority in the city. At the local level, there have been several elections that have been held over the past few years for mayor and alderman positions. The current mayor of Chatham is Pete Sherman, who was elected in 2017 for his first term. The aldermen that serve on the city council are Joy Bryson, Dave Gahan, and Ray Koontz Jr., who were all appointed to their respective posts by Mayor Sherman. All three candidates ran on platforms that focused on fiscal responsibility and improving quality of life for Chatham's citizens. The city council meets on a regular basis to discuss issues facing the city, including budgeting decisions, public works projects, zoning regulations, infrastructure improvements, and more. In addition to these measures taken at the local level, Chatham residents also participate in national elections to elect leaders from both parties to represent their interests at higher levels of government.
The political climate in Chatham, IL is somewhat conservative.
Sangamon County, IL is leaning conservative. In Sangamon County, IL 46.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 50.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Sangamon county remained Republican, 50.9% to 46.5%.
Sangamon county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Chatham, IL is somewhat conservative.
Sangamon County, Illinois is leaning conservative.
Springfield Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Illinois 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.
Chatham, Illinois: R R d 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 Chatham, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 881 contributions totaling $56,085 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $64 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 576 contributions totaling $99,658 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $173 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)