Northfield, MN is a small town in Rice County that is home to over 20,000 people. Despite its size, the politics in Northfield are vibrant and energetic. The local government consists of an elected Mayor and four council members who serve two-year terms. Elections are held every two years and the current Mayor is Rhonda Pownell. The City Council meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month to discuss various civic issues such as improving public safety, creating sustainable infrastructure projects, and developing plans for future economic growth. Additionally, city officials actively seek out public input from residents in order to implement policies that best meet the needs of their constituents. Local candidates run campaigns focused on their specific platforms which may include addressing neighborhood concerns or promoting social justice initiatives. It is through these efforts that Northfield remains a successful town with an engaged population of citizens.
The political climate in Northfield, MN is leaning liberal.
Rice County, MN is leaning liberal. In Rice County, MN 48.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 48.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Rice county remained narrowly Republican, 48.9% to 48.8%.
Rice county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Northfield, MN is leaning liberal.
Rice County, Minnesota is leaning 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.
Northfield, Minnesota: d d D d 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 Northfield, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 10,334 contributions totaling $604,996 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $59 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 625 contributions totaling $120,103 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $192 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)