Located in Mason County, Michigan, Custer is a small rural town with a population of approximately 1,700 people. Despite its size, the area still has an active political culture. In recent years, several local candidates have been elected to various offices. These include representatives on the local school board and city council, as well as county-wide positions like sheriff and prosecuting attorney. As a small community with strong ties to its past and present residents, Custer's politics have always been characterized by grassroots organizing and engagement. Political action committees representing various interests exist throughout the area as well. With its various elective offices and robust political organizations, Custer remains an engaged political community that is constantly working to better serve the needs of its residents.
The political climate in Custer, MI is moderately conservative.
Mason County, MI is moderately conservative. In Mason County, MI 39.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 59.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Mason county remained very strongly Republican, 59.1% to 39.4%.
Mason county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Custer, MI is moderately conservative.
Mason County, Michigan is moderately conservative.
Ludington Metro Area is moderately conservative.
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.
Custer, Michigan: R R d r 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 Custer, MI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 5 contributions totaling $1,305 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $261 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 8 contributions totaling $315 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $39 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)