Otter Tail County, Minnesota is a vibrant community located in the northwest region of the state. It is known for its rolling hills and beautiful lakes, and is home to approximately 57,000 residents. The county has an active political scene, with both national and local parties vying for election each year. At the local level, there are two county commissioners who are responsible for the administration of county government. These commissioners are elected through a nonpartisan election process. Additionally, representatives from cities within Otter Tail County serve on various boards and commissions throughout each year. These representatives bring important perspectives to the table that can help shape policy decisions within Otter Tail County. Local activists also work hard to ensure that citizens' voices are heard in decision-making processes at the county level.
The political climate in Otter Tail County, MN is very conservative.
In Otter Tail County, MN 32.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 65.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Otter Tail county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 65.4% to 32.9%.
Otter Tail county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Otter Tail County, MN is very conservative.
Fergus Falls Metro Area is very conservative.
Minnesota 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.
Otter Tail, Minnesota: 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 Otter Tail County, MN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,759 contributions totaling $74,641 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $42 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 500 contributions totaling $103,378 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $207 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)