Oak Forest, IL is a thriving suburban village located in Cook County. It is governed by a Mayor and Board of Trustees who serve four-year terms and are responsible for passing local ordinances that benefit the community. The Oak Forest mayor and trustees work hard to ensure the prosperity of the village, tackling issues such as public safety, infrastructure improvements, economic development, and quality of life initiatives. The village regularly holds events to engage with residents and encourage civic involvement in decisions that impact the future of Oak Forest’s citizens. The city also provides residents with information on how to interact with their representatives in order to stay informed on important political topics. By understanding the workings of local government, Oak Forest residents can make an informed decision when it comes time to cast their vote for their local candidates.
The political climate in Oak Forest, IL is moderately liberal.
Cook County, IL is very liberal. In Cook County, IL 74.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 24.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Cook county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 74.2% to 24.0%.
Cook county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Oak Forest, IL is moderately liberal.
Cook County, Illinois is very liberal.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin Metro Area is very liberal.
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.
Oak Forest, Illinois: 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 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 Oak Forest, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,969 contributions totaling $256,836 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $87 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,172 contributions totaling $245,567 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $210 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)