Waukegan, IL is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, with a population of about 89,078. With a rich history that dates back to 1836, the city has been heavily influenced by its local politics over the years. The government of Waukegan consists of an elected mayor and nine city council members. These local officials are responsible for making decisions related to the budget, public safety, economic development and much more. Currently there are several candidates running for office in Waukegan's 2020 election cycle. Each candidate has their own vision of what they believe the city should look like and how it should be run. For instance, some candidates may prioritize public safety while others may focus on infrastructure improvements. No matter which candidate wins the election later this year, their success or failure will be determined by whether or not they can effectively address the needs of the citizens of Waukegan.
The political climate in Waukegan, IL is moderately liberal.
Lake County, IL is strongly liberal. In Lake County, IL 60.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 36.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Lake county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 60.8% to 36.8%.
Lake county voted Democratic in the four most recent Presidential elections, after 2000 and 2004 went Republican.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Waukegan, IL is moderately liberal.
Lake County, Illinois is strongly liberal.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin Metro Area is very liberal.
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.
Waukegan, Illinois: r r D d D 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 Waukegan, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 14,000 contributions totaling $1,649,607 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $118 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,968 contributions totaling $1,981,095 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $499 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)