The politics in Kent County, Michigan are vibrant and diverse. The county is home to a number of elected officials from the local, state, and federal levels who represent the needs of a diverse constituency. These include representatives to the U.S. Congress, Michigan State Senate, and Michigan House of Representatives along with county commissioners, sheriffs, clerks and other local officials. All these officials are chosen through direct election by voters in Kent County. The political landscape in Kent County showcases a strong commitment to progressive values that reflect its constituents' needs while remaining open to a broad spectrum of views on issues such as healthcare, education reform, economic development, public safety and environmental protection. In addition to this elected leadership, there are numerous organizations that work to advance the interests of Kent County residents through advocacy and outreach efforts.
The political climate in Kent County, MI is leaning liberal.
In Kent County, MI 51.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 45.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Kent county flipped moderately Democratic, 51.9% to 45.8%.
Kent county flipped Democratic in 2020, after voting Republican in four of the last six Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Kent County, MI is leaning liberal.
Grand Rapids-Kentwood 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.
Kent, Michigan: R R d r r d
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 for the Democrat and I for the Independent. 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 Kent County, MI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 24,115 contributions totaling $2,508,774 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $104 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 7,226 contributions totaling $18,578,178 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $2,571 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)