The politics of Dowagiac, MI, are shaped by a number of factors. The city is governed by a mayor and six council members who are elected to four-year terms. Together they make decisions about the city’s budget, services, infrastructure and other concerns. To ensure an open and transparent government, the mayor holds regular public forums for citizens to discuss their thoughts on local issues. The community also elects representatives for the state legislature and Congress. These officials represent Dowagiac at both the state and federal levels. By coming together to create an informed electorate, citizens in Dowagiac can have their voices heard on important topics that affect them directly.
The political climate in Dowagiac, MI is somewhat conservative.
Cass County, MI is strongly conservative. In Cass County, MI 34.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 63.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Cass county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 63.6% to 34.8%.
Cass county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Dowagiac, MI is somewhat conservative.
Cass County, Michigan is strongly conservative.
South Bend-Mishawaka Metro Area is leaning liberal.
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.
Dowagiac, Michigan: 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 Dowagiac, MI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 263 contributions totaling $187,202 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $712 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 164 contributions totaling $125,880 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $768 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)