The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan is home to over 200,000 people. It is the second-largest city in the state and has a rich political history. The local government of Grand Rapids consists of an elected mayor as well as an elected commission which is composed of nine members who are each elected from one of three districts. The mayor and commission work together to determine policy in the city that will benefit its residents. Local elections in 49503 Grand Rapids, MI occur on a regular basis, with citizens voting on candidates for various public offices such as representatives and senators. Additionally, several ballot initiatives have been presented by local politicians in recent years which focus on important topics like infrastructure investment and housing affordability. As Grand Rapids continues to grow, it’s important for citizens to stay informed about the politics in their city so that they can make educated decisions when voting in local elections.
The political climate in Zip 49503 (Grand Rapids, MI) is somewhat liberal.
Kent County, MI is leaning liberal. In Kent County, MI 51.9% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 45.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Kent county flipped moderately Democratic, 51.9% to 45.8%.
Kent county flipped Democratic in 2020, after voting Republican in four of the last six Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 49503 (Grand Rapids, MI) is somewhat liberal.
Grand Rapids, Michigan is somewhat liberal.
Kent County, Michigan is leaning liberal.
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.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: R R d r r d
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 49503 (Grand Rapids)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 3,369 contributions totaling $244,227 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $72 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,177 contributions totaling $14,067,207 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $11,952 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)