Grand Traverse County, located in the lower peninsula of Michigan, is politically active and engaged in local elections. The county is home to a variety of residents and is very involved in the democratic process. It is often seen as an example of democracy and civic engagement with several political candidates running for office across all levels of government during election season. These candidates are from both major political parties, as well as minor parties, providing many different perspectives on key issues facing the county. While the population size and demographics may vary depending on census data, Grand Traverse County consistently participates in local elections with enthusiasm.
The political climate in Grand Traverse County, MI is leaning conservative.
In Grand Traverse County, MI 47.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 50.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Grand Traverse county remained Republican, 50.5% to 47.5%.
Grand Traverse county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Grand Traverse County, MI is leaning conservative.
Traverse City 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.
Grand Traverse, 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 Grand Traverse County, MI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 7,108 contributions totaling $924,409 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $130 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,307 contributions totaling $391,421 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $299 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)