Orient, IL is a small village located in East Central Illinois. It has a rich political history which includes many local politicians over the years. The current mayor of Orient is Frank Miller who was elected in 2016 and is currently serving his second term. Other notable political figures from Orient include Michael Strack, who served as state senator for two terms, and Mary Thompson, who served on the county board for six years. The politics of Orient are largely focused on issues such as economic development, infrastructure improvements, and providing opportunities to local businesses. All candidates for office are expected to have good ideas and a commitment to improving the quality of life in the community. As a result, Orient has become an example of small-town politics that emphasizes collaboration between people from different backgrounds with varying levels of experience.
The political climate in Orient, IL is strongly conservative.
Franklin County, IL is very conservative. In Franklin County, IL 25.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 73.0% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Franklin county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 73.0% to 25.5%.
Franklin county voted Republican in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Orient, IL is strongly conservative.
Franklin County, Illinois is very 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.
Orient, Illinois: d r r 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 Orient, IL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 178 contributions totaling $9,080 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $51 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 95 contributions totaling $16,966 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $179 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)