Forest Lake, IL is a small town located in rural Illinois with a population of approximately 2,400 people. The local political scene in Forest Lake is dominated by the Republican Party and most residents tend to lean toward conservative principles. In recent elections, the Republican candidates for various offices have won decisively due to this strong political base. Issues such as taxes, education, and infrastructure are hotly debated topics within the community as citizens strive to ensure that their voices are heard. Additionally, local events such as town hall meetings provide opportunities for residents to interact with their government and discuss important issues. Overall, politics in Forest Lake is an important part of life for many people as they work together to ensure that their community remains a safe and prosperous one.
The political climate in Forest Lake, IL is leaning 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
Forest Lake, IL is leaning 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.
Forest Lake, 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 Forest Lake, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,166 contributions totaling $589,960 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $272 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 574 contributions totaling $1,648,415 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $2,872 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)