East Chicago, IN has seen its share of political upheaval over the years. The city is part of Lake County and has a long history of being represented by Democrats in local office. Currently, the Mayor of East Chicago is Anthony Copeland, who was elected in 2015 and began his term in 2016. Mayor Copeland is a strong advocate for investing in local businesses, while also creating opportunities for residents to find stable employment. He also stresses the importance of public safety, building infrastructure that will promote economic growth, and improving education within the city's school systems. In addition to Mayor Copeland, there are several other local government representatives serving East Chicago such as City Council members from Districts 1 through 5; the Clerk-Treasurer Colleen LaReau; and Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr., among others. These individuals all strive to represent their constituents with dedication and respect while working to improve the quality of life in East Chicago.
The political climate in East Chicago, IN is moderately liberal.
Lake County, IN is somewhat liberal. In Lake County, IN 56.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 41.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Lake county remained very strongly Democratic, 56.7% to 41.6%.
Lake county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
East Chicago, IN is moderately liberal.
Lake County, Indiana is somewhat liberal.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin Metro Area is very liberal.
Indiana is somewhat conservative.
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.
East Chicago, Indiana: D D 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 East Chicago, IN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 147 contributions totaling $12,949 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $88 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 35 contributions totaling $5,248 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $150 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)