In Grand Rapids, voters keep politics mostly quiet to keep civility

In the northern Minnesota town of Grand Rapids — best known as the hometown of Judy Garland, who famously donned a pair of ruby-red slippers in the iconic film “The Wizard of Oz” — the politics have trended redder in recent years. 

The city along the Mississippi River, with the Blandin paper mill looming large over its quaint downtown, once voted reliably Democratic, in lockstep with the Iron Range a few miles to the northeast. 

But voting patterns shifted, coinciding with former President Donald Trump’s ascent within the Republican Party and the intensification of a political divide between rural and urban residents, where voters in Twin Cities suburbs have moved to the left, while communities in greater Minnesota have swung to the right. 

Former President Obama carried this city of about 11,000 by 14 points in his two campaigns in 2008 and 2012. But in the last two Presidential elections, Grand Rapids voters convincingly backed Trump, by nine points in 2016, and six points in 2020. 

In conversations with more than a dozen residents last week, voters said they are chiefly concerned about the economy, including inflation and taxes. They’re also focused on three school board seats that are up for grabs, following a failed referendum to boost funding for the district last year.

And while many voters are open about their preferences in the upcoming election, others declined to make their choice public in a small town where neighbors see each other in the grocery store and their kids go to school together. 

Kate Reilly, 44, is an attorney, mother of four and a political independent who declined to say who she plans to back for President.

She shared a story about a recent school trip to Washington D.C. and New York City, where students noticed a lot of drivers honking at each other.

When they asked their parent chaperones why drivers back in Grand Rapids don’t honk their horns at one another, she said the parents concluded it was because they know each other.

“You honk at someone in Grand Rapids, you’re gonna pull into the same parking lot and say ‘Hello,’” Reilly said.

That response also offers a window into how many people approach politics in this close-knit community. 

“You want to be supportive of each other and not take each other down,” she said.

Divisive politics, divided families

Politics in Grand Rapids may be divisive, but residents are united in what they love about their community — the proximity to lakes and the outdoors, a growing cultural scene, a supportive small town environment, and a respite from the hustle and bustle of larger cities. 

“I think we’ve surprised our family by being here for 10 years, but it’s become our community,” said Reilly, who moved here with her husband and children from Chicago in search of a healthier work-life balance. 

Amber Elich, 21, grew up waterskiing on area lakes, hunting and fishing and playing hockey in the winter. 

She works as a full-time trainer at Anytime Fitness in Grand Rapids while she completes an online college degree in exercise science. 

Elich lives with her parents, and wonders how she’ll be able to afford her own place when she finishes her schooling. 

“I’m going to have a bachelor’s degree, but I would not even be able to afford to live on my own right now due to taxes and interest rates,” Elich said. 

She leans Republican, but Elich said she isn’t certain yet how she’s going to vote. She said she’s purposefully shied away from political discussions after watching her Republican dad butt heads with her grandpa, a Democrat. 

“I kind of choose to stay out of them, just because I’ve seen how it affects families and relationships,” Elich said. “It kind of just puts, like, that divide between people.”

Family political clashes have had the opposite effect on Amy Savela, 57, a manager at the Reif Performing Arts Center in Grand Rapids. 

Savela grew up in Mountain Iron, in the heart of the Iron Range, the daughter of a proud union pipefitter father and staunch Democrat. 

But when her father retired, Savela said she watched his politics take a 180-degree right turn as he became more absorbed in 24/7 cable news. 

She remembers coming home from visiting him, shaken by how he had embraced what she felt was fearmongering over a border wall.

When he died, she cut off her relationship with her “birth family,” choosing instead to spend time with her in-laws, most of whom “are still very proud Democrats.”

The former Army nurse said she never thought she’d get involved in politics. But that changed when Trump was elected. Now she’s active with the Minnesota DFL Veterans and Military Families Caucus.

Veterans affairs and education are key issues for Savela. But she’s also motivated to prevent Trump from winning a second term.

“I want somebody in the White House that cares about people, and cares about how people are treated,” Savela said. 

Myrna Peterson, 75, is primarily focused on character this election. The retired teacher was paralyzed in a car accident 29 years ago. She navigates Grand Rapids in her electric wheelchair with her one working thumb and “a mouth that won’t quit,” she proudly proclaims.

She supports Vice President Kamala Harris, who Peterson said respects her as a woman and a person with a different ability. Trump in the past has mocked people with disabilities. 

“I just don’t like name calling. I don’t like the bigotry. I don’t like the lying that has caused such huge divisions within our country,” said Peterson. 

It’s the economy

For others, it’s the economy that’s top of mind this election. While Grand Rapids is growing faster than other cities in the northeastern part of the state, the median household income in Itasca County is about 25 percent lower than the statewide average. 

John Seekon, 63, moved to the Grand Rapids area about 20 years ago from the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities. 

He works mainly as a handyman. But he has two bad knees and his medical bills have been piling up. He owes about $800 a month, which he said can’t afford. 

He doesn’t hear either candidate addressing his plight. 

“Both the Democrats and the Republicans have their same issues,” he said. “They have the border wall and they have abortion and all that. And they need to focus on what’s really the biggest problem. And the biggest problem is the economy.” 

Seekon has voted for Trump in the past, but won’t this time. “He’s burned me out,” he said. But he also doesn’t plan to vote for Harris.

Friends have told Seekon he’s throwing away his vote. He disagrees. 

“I have a right to vote for who I want, and mine is a vote against the other two,” he said. “I just don’t think either one of them are the right person for the job.”

The economy is also front and center for Lewis Kellin, 42, an entrepreneur who grew up in Grand Rapids, moved to Colorado for several years, but returned about a decade ago to raise his family — part of an influx of what he calls “boomerang” residents. 

Sitting in a yurt along Highway 2, part of a boutique hotel he and his wife remodeled, Kellin said business has been a challenge. He cites increasing wages, rising property taxes, and inflation. 

“You look at the supplies that I need just to make a crepe, everything’s up 25 percent,” Kellin said. 

Kellin is a Republican, but said he hasn’t made up his mind yet who he’ll support for president. He described himself as fiscally conservative, a priority that typically guides his vote. 

But he’s also a lover of the outdoors and believes in protecting natural resources, which he said aligns more with Democratic priorities. 

While the Grand Rapids area has shifted toward the Republican party in recent years, the politics of Sam Grigsby, 55, have moved in the opposite direction. 

Grigsby is a retired firefighter who volunteers on the city’s police reserve unit. He discussed politics for a few minutes while sitting in a squad car before a big high school football game. 

A registered Republican, he’s recently voted Democratic. He said the party doesn’t represent his core values anymore. 

Grigsby said Democratic support for a woman’s right to choose an abortion is important to him. So is a fair economy. He said the DFL represents working people like him. 

“It’s about the middle class,” Grigsby said. “I’m a union guy.”

Still undecided

In a polarized political environment where it can seem like everyone has made up their minds, a few Grand Rapids voters who have voted Republican in the past say they are undecided about this election. 

Dan Butterfield, 71, said he’s leaning toward voting for Trump. He believes tax policy under the Democrats has slowed business growth, and he is concerned about escalating conflicts overseas, including in Ukraine, where he doesn’t believe the U.S. should have gotten involved. 

Butterfield said he can’t vote for Harris, calling her a “puppet.” But he wouldn’t say definitively that he plans to vote for Trump either. 

“I just wish sometimes he would just close his mouth, because he doesn’t have to interject everything all the time,” Butterfield said. 

Anita Wiliams, 60, who has worked as a hair stylist in Grand Rapids for more than 35 years, has mainly voted Republican her entire life. She attended Trump’s first inauguration, and is leaning toward supporting him again this election.

She said the economy needs a “course correction,” and has had to raise her prices a bit to offset rising costs and property taxes. 

“I try to keep a lid on things. But everybody knows you’ve got to raise those prices,” she said. “It’s tough. The dollar just doesn’t go as far as it did.”

Williams said she’s about 70 percent committed to Trump, but hasn’t made up her mind yet. She struggles with Trump’s abrasive personality, and likes the idea of electing the country’s first female president. 

As a small business owner, Williams said she’s hesitant to talk politics. She fears alienating her clients. 

Grand Rapids Mayor Tasha Connelly, 42, takes a similar approach.

The student support specialist doesn’t discuss party politics in her nonpartisan role, focusing instead on issues critical to her city, including addressing a growing housing shortage.

And she sees her constituents toning down the rancor, too. She said she’s noticed a marked decline in campaign signs this year. 

“We are a small town, and these are our neighbors, and we see them, and they take care of us,” said Connelly, who’s running unopposed after being appointed from her city council seat to fill a vacancy earlier this year. 

“You will inevitably have multiple experiences with people who you may not agree with, but at the end of the day, we know how to put those things aside to get things done.”