Kankakee, Illinois is a small city located in the northeastern corner of the state. As with many cities of its size, the politics of Kankakee revolves around local issues and concerns. For example, one major concern has been the need to revitalize the economy by attracting new businesses and improving existing ones. To this end, the city government has been taking steps to create a business-friendly environment that will attract investors and entrepreneurs. Additionally, efforts are being made to ensure residents have access to quality education, public safety services, parks and recreation opportunities, and other amenities that contribute to a high quality of life. In terms of local politics specifically, Kankakee is represented in the Illinois House of Representatives by two Democratic legislators, while voters in Kankakee County have elected Republican candidates for sheriff and county board members over recent elections cycles.
The political climate in Kankakee, IL is leaning conservative.
Kankakee County, IL is moderately conservative. In Kankakee County, IL 40.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 57.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Kankakee county remained very strongly Republican, 57.0% to 40.5%.
Kankakee county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Kankakee, IL is leaning conservative.
Kankakee County, Illinois is moderately conservative.
Kankakee Metro Area is moderately 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.
Kankakee, Illinois: 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 Kankakee, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,233 contributions totaling $202,897 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $91 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,090 contributions totaling $502,907 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $461 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)