Ottawa, MN is a small town located in southern Minnesota with an estimated population of 5,000. The city is known for its quaint downtown area and its close connection to nature as it sits on the banks of the Cannon River. It is also home to a vibrant political system that serves the needs of residents. Local politics are led by a mayor and four council members. All positions are elected at large every two years in November. The council sets the town’s budget and oversees local projects such as street construction, business development, law enforcement, parks and recreation, and other municipal services. Residents can engage directly with their politicians through public forums or by attending frequent city meetings throughout the year. Ottawa takes pride in having strong community values and a transparent government that works together to ensure the best possible service for all citizens.
The political climate in Ottawa, MN is strongly conservative.
Le Sueur County, MN is strongly conservative. In Le Sueur County, MN 33.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 64.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Le Sueur county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 64.1% to 33.7%.
Le Sueur county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Ottawa, MN is strongly conservative.
Le Sueur County, Minnesota is strongly conservative.
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metro Area is moderately liberal.
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.
Ottawa, Minnesota: r r r 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 Ottawa, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 70 contributions totaling $7,733 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $110 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 58 contributions totaling $15,196 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $262 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)