Lafayette, MN is a small town located in southeastern Minnesota with a population of only 560 people. Despite its small size, politics are an important part of local life. The town has a Mayor and City Council who are responsible for making decisions on behalf of the community. The most recent election saw incumbent mayor Steve Mielke re-elected with an overwhelming majority. The current City Council consists of five members, each elected to serve four year terms and representing different parts of the city. Issues discussed by the council range from public works projects to zoning laws and local business regulations. In addition, there are also various political committees such as the Environmental Board, Parks Board, and Economic Development Committee that bring together citizens to discuss important topics concerning the future of their community.
The political climate in Zip 56054 (Lafayette, MN) is leaning conservative.
Nicollet County, MN is leaning liberal. In Nicollet County, MN 50.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 47.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Nicollet county flipped Democratic, 50.3% to 47.2%.
Nicollet county flipped back Democratic in 2020, after voting Republican in 2000 and 2016.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 56054 (Lafayette, MN) is leaning conservative.
Lafayette, Minnesota is leaning conservative.
Nicollet County, Minnesota is leaning liberal.
Mankato Metro Area is leaning liberal.
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.
Lafayette, Minnesota: r d D d 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 56054 (Lafayette)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2 contributions totaling $216 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $108 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 2 contributions totaling $285 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $143 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)