Manhattan, KS is home to a thriving political community. The city has a mayor-council system of government, with the mayor elected at large and the council members whose seats are determined by population districts. The city's current mayor is Usha Reddi, who was elected in 2017 and is the first female mayor of Manhattan. Each year, local citizens have the opportunity to vote for their preferred candidates in the city’s municipal elections. Voter turnout is typically high in Manhattan due to its citizens’ strong dedication to civic engagement and involvement in local politics. Additionally, many organizations and clubs have been established to promote positive political dialogue and understanding within the community. As a result, Manhattan residents take great pride in their political representation, and are eager to participate in elections every year to ensure their voices are heard on both the local and national level.
The political climate in Manhattan, KS is somewhat liberal.
Riley County, KS is leaning liberal. In Riley County, KS 50.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 46.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Riley county flipped Democratic, 50.7% to 46.1%.
Riley county flipped Democratic after voting Republican in the previous five Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Manhattan, KS is somewhat liberal.
Riley County, Kansas is leaning liberal.
Manhattan Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Kansas 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.
Manhattan, Kansas: R R r R r 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 Manhattan, KS
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 5,205 contributions totaling $381,365 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $73 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,202 contributions totaling $346,384 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $288 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)