South Haven, MI is a small community nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan. The politics in South Haven are dominated by the city's mayor and their appointed city council members, who are elected to represent the citizens of South Haven. The mayor and council work together to create laws that protect and benefit the people in their community. They also have oversight over how tax dollars are spent, as well as determining zoning regulations for local businesses and organizations. Additionally, they set policies on how services like police protection, fire protection, and public works are conducted. Through their leadership, the politicians in South Haven have ensured its citizens receive a high quality of life that is unrivaled elsewhere in Michigan.
The political climate in South Haven, MI is leaning conservative.
Van Buren County, MI is somewhat conservative. In Van Buren County, MI 42.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 55.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Van Buren county remained strongly Republican, 55.2% to 42.9%.
Van Buren county voted Republican in four of the six previous Presidential elections (2008 and 2012 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
South Haven, MI is leaning conservative.
Van Buren County, Michigan is somewhat conservative.
Holland Metro Area is strongly conservative.
Michigan is leaning 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.
South Haven, Michigan: 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 South Haven, MI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,614 contributions totaling $135,472 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $84 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 206 contributions totaling $128,680 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $625 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)