Kalamazoo County, Michigan is a thriving area with a strong sense of community and political engagement. The county's politics are shaped by the diverse needs and interests of its residents, as well as the national discourse surrounding important issues such as healthcare, immigration, and environmental policy. Local officials make decisions about taxes, education, public safety, transportation improvements, and other matters that directly affect residents' daily lives. The county is represented in the Michigan State Legislature by three senators and two representatives who are responsible for advocating on behalf of their constituents in Lansing. In addition to elected officials at the state level, Kalamazoo County also has a number of local government bodies that manage specific areas within the county, including the Kalamazoo City Commission and Portage Township Board of Trustees. These entities provide citizens with an opportunity to have their voices heard in matters that impact their communities.
The political climate in Kalamazoo County, MI is moderately liberal.
In Kalamazoo County, MI 58.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 39.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Kalamazoo county remained very strongly Democratic, 58.2% to 39.5%.
Kalamazoo county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Kalamazoo County, MI is moderately liberal.
Kalamazoo-Portage Metro Area is somewhat 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.
Kalamazoo, Michigan: 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 for the Democrat and I for the Independent. 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 Kalamazoo County, MI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 20,059 contributions totaling $7,222,677 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $360 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,001 contributions totaling $829,608 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $276 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)