The city of Valparaiso, Indiana is an integral part of the greater Northwest Indiana area. Politically, it is a vibrant and diverse city that has seen its fair share of political debate over the years. In recent years, the Democratic Party has enjoyed a strong presence in the area, and many local politicians have been elected to office in Valparaiso. Some of these include Congressman Pete Visclosky and State Senator Lonnie Randolph Jr., both Democrats who have served their constituents faithfully for many years. Meanwhile, local Republicans such as Mayor Matt Murphy and City Councilman Jeff Troutman have also made waves in the community by supporting fiscal responsibility and public safety initiatives. Though both sides differ on certain issues, they all remain committed to serving their constituents in Valparaiso with honor and integrity.
The political climate in Valparaiso, IN is leaning conservative.
Porter County, IN is leaning conservative. In Porter County, IN 45.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 51.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Porter county remained moderately Republican, 51.9% to 45.8%.
Porter county voted Republican in four of the six previous Presidential elections (2008 and 2012 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Valparaiso, IN is leaning conservative.
Porter County, Indiana is leaning conservative.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin Metro Area is very liberal.
Indiana is somewhat conservative.
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.
Valparaiso, Indiana: r r 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 Valparaiso, IN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 4,855 contributions totaling $400,695 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $83 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,334 contributions totaling $288,171 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $216 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)