Why is Ottawa county so heavily Repuke?

[ButterflyBlood]

I'm not from your state but I've noticed that there's a county on the west side which voted over 70% for * and votes heavily Repuke in pretty much every election. Yet it is actually much more densely populated than Michigan as a whole and isn't your typical rural Repuke county. So what's the deal with it?

[adadem]

1. Solidly

Christian Reformed church...very conservative, religious Dutch ancestry. Most places closed on Sunday...blue laws...no booze sales on Sunday. Most people pray in public in restaurants before eating.

[Lefty48197]

2. Calvinist western Michigan is generally Republican

Kent Co./Grand Rapids is right wing H.Q. in Michigan. Amway is one of the leading funders of Michigan's right wing, and the source of party chairwoman Betsy Devos' huge bankroll.
Western Michigan is kind of the "Utah of the midwest". Too bad actually, the Lake Michigan coast is one heck of a nice place to be.

[UrbScotty]

3. Well, the City of Grand Rapids is rather Democratic

GR proper has more Democrats than Republicans. They have a Democrat in the state House (Michael Sak) and came close to putting another Democrat there and a Democrat in the Senate.

Muskegon also has some Democrats, though no state legislatos to show for it.

Other than that, well, let's just sauy that Amway bigwigs Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos often get their way politically around here.

[stavka]

8. I always got the impression that 7attorney's and a single Judge...

...were the democratic Party in Muskegon (oh, and a couple of either Jewish or gay doctors or WC Professors) It was a rather rare area where the black churches supported anybody - black/white, rep/dem - if they would promise tough action on drugs.

Well minded Blacks in Muskegon/Muskegon heights are soooo used it's sick. For one, blacks are used as the real reason North Muskegon, Laketon Township/Reeths-Puffer and Mona/Norton Shores are able to pass about 80% of their ordinances, and pump up property values.

...the dark haired County prosecutor, when I lived there, was a creep in Democratic garlands; I heard - though certainly don't offer as fact, he had a 19 year mistress back when he was trying to send crack heads to prison as drug dealers when they were pregnant and "delivering" to their fetus.

Muskegon Co. was, in my most recent memory, one of the most ignorant communities I have ever encountered. -Great for business by the way.

Plenty of cheap "Flint Like" labor.

Muskegon H.S. class of 1986
University of Michigan, class of 1990

[stavka]

4. Racism has a lot to do with it.

[MichiganVote]

5. An area that is

changing. The party differences used to be related to a heavy Dutch / German population. Also heavy Christian Reformed. So the area was dominated by these factors. However, the counties are changing and mixing up again due to predominant Hispanic population in Ottawa. That in turn leads to more RCC.

Most of the choices these days are not driven by heritage as much as economics. For the whites in the burbs such as Zeeland and Hudsonville, both ecomomic and racial considerations dominate the choices of republicans.

Amway has not donated as much to the Repub's as they did in earlier years. But they still have a strong presence primarily in economic and pro-life issues. Evangelism is not a strong theme among these Repub's. Past very strong supporters of Gerald Ford.

Although you would probably find a heavy pro-life republican bent in Kent County, the extreme right / neocon influence is largely non-existent. People in places such as Grand Rapids are what used to be considered moderate Republican. Areas such as Kalamazoo, a Bush league hit list area, are struggling economically. Again, repub's in Kal. have been traditionally moderate. If the Republican party does notleave them room to move around, they'll flip Democratic due to the economic concerns they have.

[stavka]

6. Have you read "what's the matter with Kansas?"

I see west Michigan as fitting the model presented there.

use "social issues" to drive a wedge between democratic and republican party - like race, sexuality etc. A strategy that has worked there.

[MichiganVote]

7. Actually I just saw

the author's interview on NOW with Bill Moyer (I think it was that show) And yes, I am interested in reading it. Yes, West Michigan is akin to the description from that book. I think its everywhere. Like the commercial for that nail infection medicine they play every m=nighton the evening news. Eat dinner, watch the news and gag about that sickening commercial.

My sister is a relocator in Kansas outside Lawrence. We laugh all the time about Kansas and its politics. Between the liberal element in Lawrence and the repub's in the farms, its a hoot. Some very funny people in Kansas. Couldn't live there though, too dry.

[stavka]

9. ...glad to hear it.

"Too Dry"?

From what I understand the summers are about 94 degrees and 84% hummidity...

[MichiganVote]

10. Yes

its hot as hell in Kansas but no water to enjoy for recreation other than a few places, resevoirs etc. After Michigan and its huge number of lakes, you feel like a crab in the desert. Or at least I did when I lived out west years ago. In SW Michigan usually a few weeks of unbearably humid, hot weather and the rest of the year the weather sucks all the time. Unpredictably. Like having a drunk spouse.