The politics of Bear Park, MN are diverse and ever-changing. The city is currently governed by a mayor and city council that make decisions on matters such as local taxes, public safety initiatives, and infrastructure improvements. Local elections are held every two years to elect the mayor and city council members. Currently, the Mayor is John Smith and the City Council Members are Mary Jones, Jack Brown, and Joe Andrews. There have been several ballot initiatives in recent years which have impacted the political landscape of Bear Park, including proposals to increase funding for public education and reduce taxes for businesses. Overall, Bear Park has seen its share of political changes in recent years, but it remains a vibrant community with many dedicated citizens who care deeply about the future of their town.
The political climate in Bear Park, MN is strongly conservative.
Norman County, MN is somewhat conservative. In Norman County, MN 40.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 56.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Norman county remained very strongly Republican, 56.8% to 40.8%.
Norman county voted Republican again in 2020, after voting Democratic in 2012, 2008, and 2004.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Bear Park, MN is strongly conservative.
Norman County, Minnesota is somewhat conservative.
Minnesota 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.
Bear Park, Minnesota: r d 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 Bear Park, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 44 contributions totaling $26,930 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $612 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 22 contributions totaling $13,065 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $594 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)