St. Joseph, MI is a small city located in Berrien County and is known for its quaint downtown area, beautiful beaches, and strong sense of community. The city of St. Joseph is governed by an elected mayor and six city commissioners who are responsible for creating legislation that serves the best interests of the community. Through their work, they strive to create an environment where businesses can thrive, citizens feel safe and protected, and quality services are provided to those in need. The current mayor is Vicki Davis-Schneider and the current city commissioners are Mike Garey, Keith Stonerock, Jeff Wisniewski, Jacek Sadowski, Jill Stockinger-Draves, and Jay Zimmermann. In addition to local leadership, St. Joseph is a part of Berrien County which is served by both state representatives and senators who represent the views of residents at the state level. This governing body works together to ensure a positive future for this wonderful city.
The political climate in St. Joseph, MI is leaning conservative.
Berrien County, MI is leaning conservative. In Berrien County, MI 45.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 52.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Berrien county remained moderately Republican, 52.7% to 45.3%.
Berrien county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
St. Joseph, MI is leaning conservative.
Berrien County, Michigan is leaning conservative.
Niles Metro Area is leaning 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.
St. Joseph, Michigan: R R d 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 St. Joseph, MI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,416 contributions totaling $147,736 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $104 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 685 contributions totaling $280,712 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $410 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)