Bloomington, Illinois is a city located in central Illinois with a population of around 76,000 residents. It is known for its thriving downtown area and historic sites, as well as the many colleges and universities located within the city limits. Politically, Bloomington is home to a number of progressive organizations and initiatives that focus on issues such as economic justice, environmental protection, and social inclusion. The local government consists of an elected mayor and council members who work to ensure the city’s needs are met. Additionally, there are several civil society organizations that focus on specific issues impacting Bloomington like poverty reduction or promoting racial equity. With its vibrant civic engagement efforts, Bloomington is committed to creating positive change through innovative policies and programs for the benefit of all members of our community.
The political climate in Bloomington, IL is leaning liberal.
McLean County, IL is leaning liberal. In McLean County, IL 50.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 46.3% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, McLean county flipped Democratic, 50.3% to 46.3%.
McLean county flipped Democratic in 2020, after voting Republican in four of the last six Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Bloomington, IL is leaning liberal.
McLean County, Illinois is leaning liberal.
Bloomington Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Illinois is moderately 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.
Bloomington, Illinois: R R d R r d
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 Bloomington, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 10,705 contributions totaling $478,481 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $45 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,679 contributions totaling $434,113 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $259 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)