Grand Forks, ND is a small city located in the northeast of North Dakota. Politically, Grand Forks is mostly a Democratic stronghold, with the most recent presidential election being won by Democratic candidate Joe Biden. In local elections, citizens of Grand Forks have elected progressive candidates to represent them in various positions of local government. The current mayor is Michael Brown, and he has been in office since 2018. Brown was elected on a platform of economic development, sustainability and equity. He has promoted initiatives to increase the minimum wage, improve public transportation and create housing affordability for all residents of Grand Forks. Additionally, he has implemented green energy policies that aim to reduce the city’s carbon footprint while decreasing energy costs for its citizens. Despite having a largely progressive population base, Grand Forks remains politically divided on certain issues such as gun control and immigration reform. However, through Mayor Brown’s leadership and commitment to positive change in the community, it is clear that Grand Forks continues to move forward towards progress and prosperity for all its citizens.
The political climate in Grand Forks, ND is leaning conservative.
Grand Forks County, ND is somewhat conservative. In Grand Forks County, ND 41.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 54.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Grand Forks county remained strongly Republican, 54.8% to 41.6%.
Grand Forks county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Grand Forks, ND is leaning conservative.
Grand Forks County, North Dakota is somewhat conservative.
Grand Forks Metro Area is moderately conservative.
North Dakota is very 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.
Grand Forks, North Dakota: 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 Grand Forks, ND
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3,271 contributions totaling $384,616 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $118 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 640 contributions totaling $297,052 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $464 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)