The politics of Ontonagon County, Michigan are shaped by a number of factors. Located in the Upper Peninsula, Ontonagon is home to approximately 6,700 residents. The county is represented at the state level by Senator Ed McBroom and Representative Greg Markkanen, both Republicans. At the federal level, the county is served by Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, both Democrats. Additionally, Ontonagon County is part of the State House District 110 which is represented by Republican Beau LaFave. The local political scene in Ontonagon County consists mostly of Republican candidates who have held many offices in recent years. As a result of this trend, many issues facing the county are seen through a conservative lens. Despite this strong conservative representation from elected officials in the area, there remains a diverse range of opinions and interests among citizens of the county that create meaningful dialogue on important topics such as economic development and education policy.
The political climate in Ontonagon County, MI is strongly conservative.
In Ontonagon County, MI 36.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 61.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.6% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Ontonagon county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 61.9% to 36.5%.
Ontonagon county voted Republican in five of the last six Presidential elections (2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Ontonagon County, MI is strongly conservative.
Not Found Metro Area is 0.
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.
Ontonagon, Michigan: R r d 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 Ontonagon County, MI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 185 contributions totaling $17,714 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $96 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 33 contributions totaling $17,419 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $528 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)