Mentor, Minnesota is a small town located in southeastern Minnesota just north of the Iowa border. It has a small population, which is part of what gives it its charm, but it also has an active political scene. The town is part of the larger Steele County and politics are largely driven by local elections which take place every two years on the first Tuesday in November. Candidates typically come from the local area and seek to represent their constituents on issues such as taxes, infrastructure, education, jobs, and public safety. Public debates are held prior to voting day to ensure citizens have all the information they need to make an informed decision when choosing their representatives. Mentor residents take pride in having an active role in local government and recognize that their voices matter when it comes to shaping their community.
The political climate in Mentor, 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
Mentor, 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.
Mentor, 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 Mentor, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 30 contributions totaling $5,650 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $188 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 2 contributions totaling $500 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $250 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)