Forest Lake, MN is a city with plenty of political activity. The government consists of a Mayor and four City Council members, who serve 4-year terms. Elections for these positions are held every two years in November; the most recent election was held in 2019. The local politics here involve issues such as zoning regulations, taxes, public safety, infrastructure repairs and much more. Residents have the opportunity to vote on these matters during elections and can also reach out to their elected officials directly if they have any questions or concerns. There are also plenty of opportunities for citizens to get involved in their local politics by attending meetings or joining committees and task forces. In addition to the politicians that represent them at the city level, Forest Lake residents can also be represented by state and national legislators who make sure their voices are heard on larger issues affecting the community
The political climate in Forest Lake, MN is leaning conservative.
Washington County, MN is somewhat liberal. In Washington County, MN 53.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 44.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Washington county remained moderately Democratic, 53.5% to 44.2%.
Washington county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Forest Lake, MN is leaning conservative.
Washington County, Minnesota is somewhat liberal.
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metro Area is moderately liberal.
Minnesota 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.
Forest Lake, Minnesota: r r 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 Forest Lake, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 554 contributions totaling $45,331 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $82 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 254 contributions totaling $46,119 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $182 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)