The City of Pelican Rapids is a small community located in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It has a population of just over 2,100 and is rich in history and culture. The city has been governed by an elected mayor and four-person council since its incorporation in 1881. Each member of the city council is elected from one of the four wards within the city limits. In recent years, there has been an effort to increase civic engagement within the city and create a more harmonious relationship between local government and citizens. There have been several initiatives to increase voter turnout and encourage citizens to participate in local politics, such as candidate forums and debates. Locally elected officials serve as representatives for the people of Pelican Rapids and make decisions on issues that affect their daily lives, from road maintenance to public safety measures. As such, it is important for residents of Pelican Rapids to stay informed about their local political candidates so they can make educated decisions when voting.
The political climate in Zip 56572 (Pelican Rapids, MN) is strongly conservative.
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
Zip 56572 (Pelican Rapids, MN) is strongly conservative.
Pelican Rapids, Minnesota is strongly conservative.
Otter Tail County, Minnesota 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.
Pelican Rapids, 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 zip 56572 (Pelican Rapids)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 259 contributions totaling $7,880 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $30 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 52 contributions totaling $4,986 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $96 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)