The city of Chatham, MI (49816) is a small municipality in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Its politics are closely tied to its history and local culture. The city is led by a mayor and five-member council which meet on a regular basis to discuss issues of importance to the community. Local elections take place every two years and the elected officials serve four-year terms. The council members work hard to represent the interests of their constituents, focusing on matters such as budgeting, public safety, infrastructure, local economic development, and providing services for its citizens. Additionally, residents also make their voices heard through active participation in grassroots organizations that advocate for important social issues in the area. With a population just over 2,000 people, Chatham’s politics are truly reflective of its citizens’ opinions and desires.
The political climate in Zip 49816 (Chatham, MI) is moderately conservative.
Alger County, MI is moderately conservative. In Alger County, MI 40.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 58.7% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Alger county remained very strongly Republican, 58.7% to 40.0%.
Alger county voted Republican in four of the six previous Presidential elections (2004 and 2008 went Democratic).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 49816 (Chatham, MI) is moderately conservative.
Chatham, Michigan is moderately conservative.
Alger County, Michigan is moderately 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.
Chatham, Michigan: r d 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 zip 49816 (Chatham)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 15 contributions totaling $525 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $35 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1 contributions totaling $300 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $300 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)