Kentwood, MI is a city located in Kent County with a population of over 50,000. It is an increasingly suburban and diverse area with an active political atmosphere. Locally, the politics focus on issues such as education, economic development, public transportation, and public safety. At the federal level, Kentwood residents are represented by Congressman Bill Huizenga in Congress and Senator Debbie Stabenow in the Senate. On the state level, it is represented by Senator Lynn Afendoulis and Representative Thomas Albert in the Michigan Legislature. At the local level, Kentwood has a City Commission which consists of seven elected officials who are responsible for making decisions about local public policy that affect all citizens living within their jurisdiction. The Commission meets regularly to review proposed legislation, discuss zoning and other ordinances affecting Kentwood residents, and review city budget proposals.
The political climate in Zip 49508 (Kentwood, MI) is leaning 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 49508 (Kentwood, MI) is leaning liberal.
Kentwood, Michigan is leaning 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.
Kentwood, 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 49508 (Kentwood)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 1,033 contributions totaling $43,524 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $42 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 265 contributions totaling $33,180 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $125 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)