The small town of 56352 Melrose, MN is home to a close-knit community of around 3,000 people. Politically, it leans conservative with most locals holding conservative values. In the past several elections, the majority of voters have favored Republican candidates for state and national offices. However, in recent years there has been an increase in support for more progressive policies from the local citizenry. This can be seen in the campaigns of local candidates who have offered alternative solutions to issues concerning healthcare access, economic opportunity and education reform. Although no one candidate has won a majority outright, many of these progressive ideas have gained traction and starting gaining attention from both sides of the political aisle. Despite this shift towards progressivism, 56352 Melrose remains a largely conservative town; however, its open dialogue between politicians and citizens makes it an ideal place for finding common ground and compromise when it comes to tackling issues faced by both sides.
The political climate in Zip 56352 (Melrose, MN) is moderately conservative.
Stearns County, MN is moderately conservative. In Stearns County, MN 37.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 60.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Stearns county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 60.1% to 37.6%.
Stearns county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 56352 (Melrose, MN) is moderately conservative.
Melrose, Minnesota is moderately conservative.
Stearns County, Minnesota is moderately conservative.
St. Cloud Metro Area is strongly 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.
Melrose, 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 56352 (Melrose)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 12 contributions totaling $120 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $10 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 8 contributions totaling $1,631 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $204 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)