If Southern California became a state, would it be a red state? (Los Angeles: apartment, lofts)

[youngmoney]

It seems like most of SoCal tends to lean republican besides LA, is this true? That would mean Southern California would become a red state. If so, that might give McCain enough delegates to beat Barack, right?

[EscapeCalifornia]

If you include LA, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego counties, its still a blue state. In the 2004 presidential election, LA was blue by a 831,511 vote margin while the rest were red by only 458,828 votes.

United States presidential election in California, 2004 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[missionhome]

It isn't possible. Los Angeles County's much larger population and slant toward Democrats overcomes the effort of the less populous counties surrounding it. It would be a more moderate state, but would still be a "blue state."

[tande1n5]

The short answer is "LA trumps all," like it or not.

[bhcompy]

LA isn't afraid of conservative mayors though, keep in mind. Riordan was successful and a conservative. Much more successful than the current moron running LA

[Christine Joan]

To paraphrase JFK, ask not what your city can do for you, but ask what you can do for your city.

From my perspective, my section of LA has continued to improve a great deal since this mayor took office. There are a lot of new shops, apartment buildings, half-million dollar condos, etc. that have been built recently here in Korea Town which are increasing the tax base and helping to improve the local area. I've also noticed that this mayor is active in the community and uses his office as a spot light to focus the media on all the problems that he goes out into the community and works hard to solve.

I suspect that your problem might be that the mayor is a Democrat.

LA has more Democrats than Republicans. Obama will likely receive the majority of the votes here.

[happ]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

LA isn't afraid of conservative mayors though, keep in mind. Riordan was successful and a conservative. Much more successful than the current moron running LA

Guess who Riordan has endorsed for president? OBAMA

Riordan is hardly conservative, by the way. He's a wealthy Catholic who also supported President Clinton during the 1992 & 1996 elections\ he is pro-gay rights & favors universal health care, etc. Riordan also supported Mayor Villaraigosa.

Los Angeles is a Democratic stronghold in California & the surrounding counties either lean Democrat [ie. Ventura\ Santa Barbara\ San Bernardino\ Imperial] or are slightly Republican [Riverside\ San Diego & Orange]. Republicans are only strong in some of the inland counties in Central & Northern California [mostly Central Valley]. Nearly all coastal counties are strongly Democratic from Los Angeles to the Oregon border [exceptions would be San Luis Obispo & Del Norte counties].

Mayor Villaraigosa is well-liked in Los Angeles aside from his personal life. He will easily win his next election unless he decides to run for governor.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by Christine Joan

I suspect that your problem might be that the mayor is a Democrat.

he has given LA very little good publicity. having national exposure on affairs with tv reporters is not good for LAs public image. LA also is seemingly in the middle of black vs hispanic gang issues, and I've seen very little done to stop it. Forcing businesses within the city limits to provide shelter, restrooms, etc for loiterers/day laborers is also comical. Very little good news seems to be coming from within the LA city limits these days.

korea town and old town downtown gentrification is just a natural occurance due to little good housing stock close to downtown and no safe decently commutable suburbs in a decent price range anymore. it doesnt help the fact that you still don't want to be outside at night in some of those areas. i have a friend who lives in the little tokyo lofts and its in the heart of skidrow, just one of the many gentrification projects that make property value go up while still requiring 24/7 armed guard presence to make sure the people living there are safe

[18Montclair]

Republicans such as Richard Riordan are the kind I like.

[Winston Smith]

In most places around the world, port cities and border locations tend to be liberal. Based on this, I hedge my bets on "blue" for the proposed State of Southern California. Within that state there would be large "red" swaths in the less densely populated areas -- south OC, north San Diego Co, the Inland Empire, desert areas, north L.A. County, east Ventura County and inland and north Santa Barbara County. The higher population areas are fairly reliably "blue." This would be urban centers along the coast, L.A. metro, and portions of greater San Diego city. My guess, anyway.