Bridgewater, MN is a small town located in East Central Minnesota. It is known for its small-town charm and sense of community. Politically, the town is generally conservative, though there are progressive elements present. Local elections tend to be centered on fiscal responsibility and public safety issues such as maintaining roads and bridges in good shape, increasing police presence in areas deemed necessary, and supporting small businesses. In terms of state government representation, the town is served by John Howe and Peggy Flanagan in the Minnesota House of Representatives. These two legislators strive to uphold Bridgewater's ideals while also fighting for state issues that affect all citizens throughout Minnesota.
The political climate in Bridgewater, MN is leaning conservative.
Rice County, MN is leaning liberal. In Rice County, MN 48.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 48.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Rice county remained narrowly Republican, 48.9% to 48.8%.
Rice county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Bridgewater, MN is leaning conservative.
Rice County, Minnesota is leaning liberal.
Faribault-Northfield Metro Area is leaning 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.
Bridgewater, Minnesota: d 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 Bridgewater, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 6,287 contributions totaling $346,525 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $55 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 490 contributions totaling $91,532 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $187 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)