Hattiesburg, Mississippi is a city located in Forrest County and is a part of the larger metro area of Hattiesburg. The city is an important economic and educational hub for the region. Politically, Hattiesburg has been a reliably Democratic stronghold for many years. The mayor is Toby Barker, who was elected to office in 2017 and re-elected in 2019. He has worked hard to bring economic development projects to the city and many of his initiatives have resulted in positive improvements to the city's infrastructure and quality of life. Other local political figures include City Council President Jeremiah Dumas, who was elected to office in 2020, as well as State Representatives Percy Watson Jr., Robert L. Clark Jr., and Paul B. Crane Jr., who were all elected in 2020 as well. All of these officials have worked hard to ensure that Hattiesburg remains a great place to live, work, and play.
The political climate in Hattiesburg, MS is leaning liberal.
Forrest County, MS is somewhat conservative. In Forrest County, MS 43.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 54.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Forrest county remained strongly Republican, 54.6% to 43.5%.
Forrest county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Hattiesburg, MS is leaning liberal.
Forrest County, Mississippi is somewhat conservative.
Hattiesburg Metro Area is strongly conservative.
Mississippi is moderately 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.
Hattiesburg, Mississippi: R R R 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 Hattiesburg, MS
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 6,218 contributions totaling $1,014,935 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $163 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 7,214 contributions totaling $2,401,082 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $333 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)