Battle Creek, MI (49037) is a small city situated about 25 miles south of Kalamazoo in the central part of the state. It is home to numerous businesses and industries and is the site of many popular tourist destinations. Politically, Battle Creek is part of Calhoun County and has been represented in the state House by Republican John Moolenaar since 2011. The current mayor is Mark Behnke, who was elected to his first term in 2017. In addition to these two officials, Battle Creek also has several city commissioners who oversee various aspects of city government such as public safety, economic development, parks and recreation, and building inspections. The city's political environment is largely determined by its large size and diverse population which includes members of both major political parties as well as independent voters. With regards to national politics, Battle Creek leans slightly to the rightside; however, this tendency has not resulted in any significant changes from year to year.
The political climate in Zip 49037 (Battle Creek, MI) is leaning conservative.
Calhoun County, MI is somewhat conservative. In Calhoun County, MI 43.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 54.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Calhoun county remained strongly Republican, 54.6% to 43.6%.
Calhoun county voted Republican in 2020, 2016 and 2004, and Democratic in 2012, 2008 and 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 49037 (Battle Creek, MI) is leaning conservative.
Battle Creek, Michigan is leaning conservative.
Calhoun County, Michigan is somewhat conservative.
Battle Creek Metro Area is somewhat 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.
Battle Creek, Michigan: d r d d 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 49037 (Battle Creek)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 183 contributions totaling $5,833 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $32 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 43 contributions totaling $6,124 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $142 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)