Politics
| Year | GOP | DEM | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 46.0% 505,083 | 51.9% 570,838 | 2.1% 23,020 |
| 2008 | 44.1% 539,939 | 54.3% 664,685 | 1.7% 19,270 |
| 2004 | 52.5% 596,033 | 46.4% 526,437 | 1.1% 12,378 |
| 2000 | 49.6% 475,736 | 45.7% 437,666 | 4.7% 45,232 |
| 1996 | 45.8% 402,876 | 44.1% 389,964 | 10.3% 91,311 |
| 1992 | 35.7% 352,125 | 37.2% 367,397 | 27.1% 267,124 |
| 1988 | 60.2% 523,143 | 38.3% 333,264 | 1.5% 12,788 |
| 1984 | 65.3% 502,344 | 33.4% 257,029 | 1.3% 9,894 |
| 1980 | 60.8% 435,910 | 27.3% 195,410 | 11.9% 85,546 |
| 1976 | 55.7% 353,302 | 41.6% 263,654 | 2.7% 16,839 |
| 1972 | 61.8% 371,627 | 34.3% 206,455 | 3.8% 23,055 |
| 1968 | 56.3% 261,540 | 36.1% 167,669 | 7.7% 35,654 |
| 1964 | 50.3% 214,445 | 49.7% 211,808 | 0.0% 33 |
| 1960 | 56.4% 233,045 | 43.3% 171,259 | 0.3% 1,106 |
| 1956 | 64.5% 195,742 | 35.2% 106,716 | 0.4% 1,147 |
| 1952 | 63.5% 186,091 | 35.9% 105,255 | 0.6% 1,688 |
| 1948 | 49.4% 101,552 | 47.8% 98,217 | 2.8% 5,690 |
| 1944 | 45.4% 75,746 | 53.9% 89,959 | 0.6% 1,059 |
| 1940 | 43.3% 55,434 | 55.6% 71,188 | 1.2% 1,488 |
| 1936 | 35.0% 35,686 | 63.5% 64,628 | 1.5% 1,540 |
| 1932 | 41.5% 35,305 | 53.6% 45,622 | 5.0% 4,223 |
| 1928 | 67.1% 47,769 | 32.0% 22,749 | 0.9% 633 |
| 1924 | 49.0% 22,726 | 6.4% 2,944 | 44.7% 20,721 |
| 1920 | 63.8% 19,826 | 27.3% 8,478 | 9.0% 2,783 |
San Diego County has historically been thought of as a Republican stronghold. The Republican presidential nominee carried the county in every presidential election from 1948 through 2004, except in 1992 when Bill Clinton won a plurality. In 2008, Barack Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win a majority of votes in San Diego County since World War II.
The city of San Diego itself is more Democratic than the county's average and has voted for Democrats Clinton, Gore, Kerry, and Obama, respectively, in the last six presidential elections. The city of San Diego, as well as Coronado and Imperial Beach, is part of the 53rd congressional district which has a Cook Partisan Voting Index (CPVI) of D +12. San Diego's northern and eastern suburbs tend to be very conservative. Northern suburbs including Carlsbad are part of the 50th district with a CPVI of R +5. In the 2004 presidential election, San Diego, Encinitas, National City, Del Mar, and some other areas voted for John Kerry; San Marcos, Escondido, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Coronado, Santee, Poway, El Cajon, and Vista overwhelmingly backed George W. Bush. Chula Vista, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Solana Beach, and Imperial Beach are considered swing areas of the county – Chula Vista and Imperial Beach narrowly backed Al Gore in 2000 but narrowly voted for Bush in 2004, while Solana Beach switched from Bush in 2000 to Kerry in 2004. La Mesa narrowly voted for Bush both times, and Lemon Grove narrowly went Democratic both times. However, all of these swing areas as well as Oceanside voted for Obama in 2008.
One unique feature of the political scene is the use of Golden Hall, a convention facility next to City Hall, as a central elections center. The County Registrar of Voters rents the hall to distribute election results. Supporters and political observers are invited to watch the results come in, candidates give their victory and concession speeches and host parties for campaign volunteers and donors at the site, and television stations broadcast from the floor of the convention center. Golden Hall was scheduled to be closed in 2004, but was reused again for the November 2005 special election. The atmosphere on the evening of election day is often comparable to the voting portion of a political party national convention.
In the House of Representatives, all of California's 50th, 52nd, and 53rd districts and parts of the 49th and 51st districts are in the county. By district, the seats are held by Republican Darrell Issa, Republican Brian Bilbray, Democrat Bob Filner, Republican Duncan D. Hunter, and Democrat Susan Davis.
On Nov. 4, 2008 San Diego County voted 53.8% for Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages, thus restoring Proposition 22 which was overturned by a ruling from the California Supreme Court. However the city of San Diego, along with Del Mar, Encinitas, and Solana Beach, voted against Proposition 8.
In the State Assembly, parts of the 66th and 73rd districts, and all of the 74th–79th districts are in the county. Assemblymembers are: District 66, Kevin Jeffries (R); District 73, Diane Harkey (R); District 74, Martin Garrick (R); District 75, Nathan Fletcher (R); District 76, Toni Atkins (D); District 77, Brian W. Jones (R); District 78, Marty Block (D); and District 79, Ben Hueso (D).
In the State Senate, all of the 38th and 39th district and parts of the 36th and 40th districts are in the county. Senators are: District 36, Joel Anderson (R); District 38, Mark Wyland (R); District 39, Christine Kehoe (D); and District 40 Juan Vargas (D).
| District | Location | Cook PVI | % for Bush, 2004 | Median household income | Per capita income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49th district | Northern San Diego and southwestern Riverside County | R +10 | 63% | $46,445 | $19,659 |
| 50th district | Northern San Diego County, including costal communities such as Carlsbad, California but excluding La Jolla | R +5 | 55% | $59,813 | $29,877 |
| 51st district | Southern San Diego County, including Chula Vista and National City. Also includes all of Imperial County | D +7 | 46% | $39,243 | $14,923 |
| 52nd district | Eastern San Diego County, including La Mesa, El Cajon and Lakeside. | R +9 | 61% | $52,940 | $24,544 |
| 53rd district | San Diego including La Jolla, Coronado and Imperial Beach | D +12 | 39% | $36,637 | $21,715 |
| Mean | Districts: 49th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd | R +5 | 52.8% | $47,016 | $22,144 |
Read more about this topic: San Diego County, California
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“When feminism does not explicitly oppose racism, and when antiracism does not incorporate opposition to patriarchy, race and gender politics often end up being antagonistic to each other and both interests lose.”
—Kimberly Crenshaw (b. 1959)
“Hardly a man in the world has an opinion upon morals, politics or religion which he got otherwise than through his associations and sympathies. Broadly speaking, there are none but corn-pone opinions. And broadly speaking, Corn-Pone stands for Self- Approval. Self-approval is acquired mainly from the approval of other people. The result is Conformity.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Our democracy, our culture, our whole way of life is a spectacular triumph of the blah. Why not have a political convention without politics to nominate a leader who’s out in front of nobody?... Maybe our national mindlessness is the very thing that keeps us from turning into one of those smelly European countries full of pseudo-reds and crypto-fascists and greens who dress like forest elves.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)