Ottawa, MI County is located in the state of Michigan and is home to a diverse array of people, businesses, and organizations. Politically, the county is largely represented by two local political parties: the Democrats and Republicans. Both parties have deep roots in the county’s history and culture, making Ottawa an interesting place to observe politics in action. In recent years, elections have been closely contested between them and both parties are heavily involved in local initiatives. For example, there are several civic improvement projects being led by both sides, including an effort to update infrastructure and encourage economic development. Additionally, candidates from both sides have worked to promote environmental protection measures and social services for those in need. With such well-defined areas of focus for each party, Ottawa continues to be an exciting place to watch politics unfold.
The political climate in Ottawa County, MI is moderately conservative.
In Ottawa County, MI 38.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 59.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Ottawa county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 59.8% to 38.4%.
Ottawa county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Ottawa County, MI is moderately conservative.
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.
Ottawa, Michigan: 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 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 Ottawa County, MI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 7,630 contributions totaling $719,321 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $94 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,818 contributions totaling $1,612,027 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $422 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)