Portage, IN is a small city in Porter County situated on the shores of Lake Michigan. The city has a strong sense of community and many residents are politically engaged. The mayor's office is held by Mayor John Cannon who was re-elected in 2019. He is supported by the City Council composed of five members who have their own distinct perspectives on how to make Portage an even better place to live. At a local level, there are several organizations that advocate for different causes and initiatives such as environmental protection, social justice, and economic development. The Portage Political Forum is an active organization that meets regularly to discuss current issues facing the city and provides support to local candidates running for office. Residents are encouraged to stay informed about what’s going on in their community and take part in the political process by attending public meetings or voting in elections.
The political climate in Portage, IN is leaning conservative.
Porter County, IN is leaning conservative. In Porter County, IN 45.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 51.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Porter county remained moderately Republican, 51.9% to 45.8%.
Porter county voted Republican in four of the six previous Presidential elections (2008 and 2012 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Portage, IN is leaning conservative.
Porter County, Indiana is leaning conservative.
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.
Portage, Indiana: r r d d 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 Portage, IN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 4,018 contributions totaling $479,021 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $119 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,116 contributions totaling $306,679 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $275 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)