Fosston, Minnesota is a small town located in Polk County. It has a strong sense of community and is home to approximately 1,300 residents. Despite its size, Fosston has an active local political scene. Political candidates in the area range from local first-time candidates to experienced politicians with decades of public service under their belts. The town runs on an open government system with elected officials serving two-year terms for mayor, city councilors, county supervisors and more. Political issues that are important to Fosston residents include economic development, environmental conservation, and maintaining the close community spirit that sets them apart from other towns in the area. Neighborhood meetings are held throughout Fosston where local residents can express their views about how they want their town to be run. These conversations provide invaluable input into the future of Fosston's politics and ensure that all voices are heard when it comes to making important decisions about the place they call home.
The political climate in Fosston, MN is moderately conservative.
Polk County, MN is strongly conservative. In Polk County, MN 34.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 63.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Polk county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 63.3% to 34.9%.
Polk county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Fosston, MN is moderately conservative.
Polk County, Minnesota is strongly conservative.
Grand Forks Metro Area is moderately conservative.
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.
Fosston, Minnesota: 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 Fosston, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 49 contributions totaling $5,630 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $115 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 13 contributions totaling $1,614 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $124 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)