The city of Kalamazoo, MI is a vibrant and diverse community located in the southwestern region of the state. It has a population of approximately 74,262 people according to 2019 estimates. The city is served by an elected mayor-council form of government. The Mayor is elected at-large for a four-year term while the nine council members are elected from their wards for two-year terms. As is typical in cities across the nation, local politics in 49004 Kalamazoo are focused on issues such as economic development, public safety, infrastructure improvements, and educational opportunities for all residents. In addition to these overarching topics, many local candidates take stands on specific issues such as budgeting priorities and policies related to health care and environmental protection. Local political campaigns often feature debates between candidates over their policies and platforms that demonstrate their commitment to representing the best interests of their constituents in Kalamazoo.
The political climate in Zip 49004 (Kalamazoo, MI) is somewhat liberal.
Kalamazoo County, MI is moderately liberal. In Kalamazoo County, MI 58.2% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 39.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Kalamazoo county remained very strongly Democratic, 58.2% to 39.5%.
Kalamazoo county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 49004 (Kalamazoo, MI) is somewhat liberal.
Kalamazoo, Michigan is somewhat liberal.
Kalamazoo County, Michigan is moderately liberal.
Kalamazoo-Portage Metro Area is somewhat liberal.
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.
Kalamazoo, Michigan: d d D D D 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 49004 (Kalamazoo)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,111 contributions totaling $35,208 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $32 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 90 contributions totaling $4,492 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $50 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)