South Bend, Indiana is located in 46617 zip code and is home to an estimated 101,890 people. The city has a mayor-council form of government which consists of a Mayor, Common Council President, nine Common Council At-Large members, and nine Common Council District representatives. The current mayor is James Mueller who was elected in 2020. He has focused on improving the quality of life for South Bend residents by implementing initiatives such as a $1 billion dollar Smart Streets plan to make improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists throughout the city. Other initiatives include the Grow South Bend Initiative which seeks to strengthen small businesses in the area and provide job training opportunities. Additionally, there are various local political action committees that work to advocate for progressive policies such as racial justice reform and environmental protection. With so many different groups working together within the community, South Bend politics represents an ever-evolving landscape with its citizens at the forefront of progress.
The political climate in Zip 46617 (South Bend, IN) is leaning liberal.
St. Joseph County, IN is leaning liberal. In St. Joseph County, IN 52.0% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 46.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, St. Joseph county remained moderately Democratic, 52.0% to 46.1%.
St. Joseph county voted Democratic in five of the last six Presidential elections (2004 went Republican).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Zip 46617 (South Bend, IN) is leaning liberal.
South Bend, Indiana is leaning liberal.
St. Joseph County, Indiana is leaning liberal.
South Bend-Mishawaka Metro Area is leaning liberal.
Indiana is somewhat 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.
South Bend, Indiana: d r D d d 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 46617 (South Bend)
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 2,364 contributions totaling $424,067 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $179 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 118 contributions totaling $104,973 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $890 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)