Merrill, Wisconsin is a small town in the north of the state with a population of around 9,400 people. It is located in Lincoln County and is known as the “City of Parks” due to its many attractions for outdoor recreation. Merrill has a long history of politics that dates back all the way to 1881 when it was founded as a village. The political landscape in Merrill has been shaped by both local and national forces, and has seen several changes over the years. At the local level, residents elect a mayor and city council members to represent their interests and help shape their city's future. These local officials are responsible for setting laws and regulations to improve life for Merrill residents, as well as ensuring taxes are collected appropriately and that services are provided efficiently. On the national level, Merrill's citizens vote for candidates running for Congress or President every election year. By being informed about current issues related to both local and national politics, Merrill's citizens can make conscious decisions about who they would like to lead them into the future.
The political climate in Merrill, WI is somewhat conservative.
Lincoln County, WI is moderately conservative. In Lincoln County, WI 38.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 60.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Lincoln county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 60.7% to 38.0%.
Lincoln county voted Republican in four of the six previous Presidential elections (2008 and 2012 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Merrill, WI is somewhat conservative.
Lincoln County, Wisconsin is moderately conservative.
Wisconsin 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.
Merrill, Wisconsin: r r D d 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 Merrill, WI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 517 contributions totaling $67,657 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $131 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 114 contributions totaling $22,139 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $194 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)