Geography, not politics, hurts [CA] Central Valley candidates (SFGate)

[petronius]

Geography, not politics, hurts Central Valley candidates
By John Wildermuth Published 2:10 pm, Saturday, October 25, 2014

Mayor Ashley Swearengin’s biggest obstacle in her run for state controller might not be that she’s a Republican in a deep-blue state or a woman where men often dominate politics. Instead, it’s her Fresno address that could cause trouble.

In a state where the voting population, money and political clout flows from the densely populated cities along the coast, Central Valley politicians historically have had a tough time getting elected to statewide office.

“It’s difficult,” admitted Tim Clark, a consultant for Swearengin, who’s facing Democrat Betty Yee, a state Board of Equalization member from Alameda. “It’s a struggle to get known to donors, who are in places like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orange County.”

The only current state officeholder from the Central Valley is Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones of Sacramento. The last California governor from the state’s interior was “Buckboard” Jim Budd, a Democratic congressman from Stockton who was elected to the state’s top office in 1894.

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http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Geography-not-politics-hurts-Central-Valley-5847723.php

Now I'm pretty sure that Swearengin's biggest problem is not geography, but the overall discussion is pretty interesting...

[Cleita]

1. Most of California is Republican geographically. It

always has been. Fortunately, demographically it is Democratic thanks to the population density areas of the coast. I'm a person that likes to go into the woods a lot and I find the politics in Northern California forested regions and Central Valley as right wing as those of Idaho and Montana. I do find that the people in those areas are forgotten by our liberals. Since when does a San Fransisco or Los Angeles based politician really care much about the loss of jobs in those places by the closing of mills and other income producing venues that have died there?

Even though their downturn in fortunes are because of right wing politics, the Democrats really haven't done anything for them to relieve their situation and get their votes. It's too bad.

[antiquie]

2. L.A. politicians don't pay attention close to home.

Look at the SoCal neighboring counties of Riverside and San Bernardino. I'm not sure all of the Democrats are even aware of Imperial. The inland areas are harder hit during recessions, add in the housing disaster and water crisis and recovery looks as tough as parts of Central California.