Occasionally, somebody asks whether geography matters in Shorewood politics. Does where you live affect who you vote for? Does where you live affect your chances of getting elected if you run for office? In an effort to apply data to this discussion, I analyzed the voter rolls and the locations of our current elected officials. Here is what I found.
- The further East you live, the more likely you are to vote. The three wards with the highest voter turnout for the 2005 Spring General Election (Wards 6, 4, and 5 respectively) are the three that border the lake.
- Of our 7 Village Trustees, 5 live in one of these three wards.
- Of our 5 School Board members, 3 are from these three wards.
- Of our 12 elected officials, 6 of them are from Ward 4 (East of Prospect Ave, South of Capitol Dr.).
- All 12 of our elected officials live East of Oakland Avenue.
Am I saying that people actively consider the home address of a particular candidate when they cast their votes? Of course not. But the facts above certainly should strengthen our resolve to expand the geographic distribution of those participating in our Village political life.
