san diego - is it democrat or republican -

[2Design]

seems southern california has a number of republicans but I don't remember what areas they are concentrated in

[Hepburn]

1. Parts of SD County...

...are pretty Republican. The wealthy areas. Like the one where Duke Cunningham was elected to the US House. Orange County used to be VERY conservative Republican. But over the years, it has come to have a more minority population -- both Hispanic and Asian -- and has elected Democrats to the House.

The areas outlying from LA, where you generally find a lot of the "cowboy/pick up" crowd, tend to vote Republican.

Areas that are more urban around LA, even if a wealthy area, seem to have a lot of liberal Democrats. Like Santa Monica and West LA.

I have lived in Southern California for a long time -- over 40 years -- and mostly the LA area. I do not know SD county that well, but do know LA County well and Orange County fairly well. If you have any questions about the LA area, please feel free to ask.

[Ally McLesbian]

2. Asians are NOT Democrats

The Koreans and the Vietnamese tend to be Republican puppets, voting for every neocon idea that comes their way. And Southern California has the largest concentration of both ethnicities in the US. Communities with large numbers of these ethnicities (La Mirada, Diamond Bar, Westminster) are very Republican.

Never mind that Democrats - Harry Truman and LBJ - tried to save their behinds in the first place (and succeeded in the case of Harry Truman and Korea).

It doesn't help that the Korean community is owned by the fundamentalist mega-churches.

Even the Chinese are swing voters at best.

Latinos are no longer a demographic that the Dems can take for granted either. They WILL vote with the Republicans on socially conservative issues like abortion and gay marriage. In fact, Latino Protestants are a Republican bloc now.

[KitchenWitch]

4. Part of the reason behind that is that Reagan made a huge

anti-communist stand when he ran for president.

My MIL is an asian immigrant and will not vote for a democrat, in part for this very reason, she has seen the fruits of communism first hand, and believes that the republicans offer more resistance to communism.

[Ally McLesbian]

6. Talking point to anti-communist Asian Republicans

Tell them that Harry Truman, who saved South Korea from the commies, was a Democrat.

Tell them that LBJ, who tried to save South Vietnam, was a Democrat.

Tell them that Al Gore got into trouble because he was too friendly with Taiwan, not mainland China.

If neither point works, there is a more serious dynamic going on. Maybe the person is a tax evader who underreports his/her income so that he/she could afford a Lexus (in cash-based Asian-American businesses, this is a common tactic). Maybe it's the megachurches - virtually all Koreans, and many Chinese, attend these megachurches where they are fed Republican talking points. These megachurches, as chambers of commerce, community centers, and matchmaking services, are extremely influential in their respective communities.

It also doesn't help that Asians often see themselves as being equivalent to whites, being "model minority" and pretty much "immune" from the poverty of the black and Latino communities. And by extension, they see the Democrats as catering to "welfare queen" black and Latino concerns, not "hardworking" Asian concerns. (I know better, but the misconception is very widespread among Asians, especially newer arrivals like the Koreans and the Vietnamese.)

I'll add one more thing - even before Reagan made his anti-communist stand, the fascist dictatorships in South Korea and South Vietnam were making these stands for their people, who have now moved to the US. They taught their subjects to unconditionally thank the US (especially the Republicans, who are seen as pro-military and pro-war) for their benevolent defense of, and aid to, their countries. Any criticism of the US, especially the Republicans, was considered sympathizing with the communists, and could lead to severe punishment. Remember that Ronnie Reagan's first foreign guest, within days of his inauguration, was none other than South Korea's military dictator president, who needed Reagan to legitimize his successful coup d'etat (and Reagan certainly did).

[bliss_eternal]

5. Palos Verdes, too...

Lot of Asians on the hill--very Republican area.

[cascadiance]

3. Well, you might be a bit more hopeful here in North County...

I still feel it's a bit right wing for my tastes up here, but one thing to note is that around 2000-2001, there was a pretty big exodus of people out of the Bay Area when the dotcom meltdown happened, and the cost of living mess due to the housing shortage up there forced many engineers, etc. out of there down here, especially in North County area near by Sorrento Valley, where most of the tech jobs are. According to articles back then, the two main locations that lead all others for where those moving away from the bay area headed were San Diego and Sacramento (Grass Valley area).

Now not all engineering types are as liberal as I am, but even those that are more conservative tend to be Libertarian as opposed to hardcore bible-thumping Republicans I think. So I think that dynamic may be changing as more "techie types" move here. So I expect over time that you have less of the religious right types in Vista, etc. here dominating the North County district areas, and more middle-of-the-road folks and hopefully more progressives like myself.

A good indicator of what's changed will be to see how this area votes in the mayoral election next month. It's the first real mayoral election where both a Democrat and a Republican have been on the final ballot since I've been here (in the past the runoffs have yielded two Republicans with Donna Frye running as a write-in candidate in 2004).

If we can force Cunningham to resign before February, we also might get a good barometer in the June election where we might also have an interim election to replace him until 2006 too here in North County.

[Oerdin]

7. Historically

The county votes red.