Hattiesburg, Mississippi is the 11th largest city in the state located in Forrest County. It has a strong and progressive government system led by mayor Toby Barker. In addition to Mayor Barker, there are several other elected officials who make sure that the local citizens of Hattiesburg have their voices heard on important issues. These include City Council members, Board of Supervisors members, and school board representatives. The current City Council consists of 6 members from 5 wards within the city limits. They work together to ensure that all local laws are enforced and that the citizens’ views are taken into consideration when making decisions for the city. Every two years, citizens of Hattiesburg have the opportunity to elect candidates to represent them on both local and state levels. During election season voters can choose between Democrats and Republicans for their preferred candidate while also being able to select nonpartisan candidates who may better express their views in regards to certain policies or issues facing Hattiesburg. Recently, some important topics discussed were public safety initiatives, economic development projects, and improved educational opportunities for Hattiesburg residents. Through these elections, citizens are able to take an active role in determining how politics should be shaped in their community.
The political climate in Zip 39406 (Hattiesburg, MS) is leaning liberal.
Forrest County, MS is somewhat conservative. In Forrest County, MS 43.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 54.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Forrest county remained strongly Republican, 54.6% to 43.5%.
Forrest county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 39406 (Hattiesburg, MS) is leaning liberal.
Hattiesburg, Mississippi is leaning liberal.
Forrest County, Mississippi is somewhat conservative.
Hattiesburg Metro Area is strongly conservative.
Mississippi is moderately conservative.
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.
Hattiesburg, Mississippi: 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 39406 (Hattiesburg)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 8 contributions totaling $120 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $15 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 0 contributions totaling $0 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $0 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)