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Yes, it is more known that Dallas has swung more to the left in large part due to minority voters. However, the people they are electing have taken pro-gay stances. John Wiley Price voted to for Dallas county to extend same sex partners benefits in Dallas county, Royce West has a pro-gay voting record and participated in the "It gets better" project, Rafael Anchia has a very pro-gay voting record participated in the "It gets better" project, and Roberto Alonzo has a pro-gay voting record and participated in the "It gets better" project. Those are all democrat and minorities that represent the minority districs in Dallas county. Other democrats in DFW that have pro-gay voting records include Wendy Davis, Lon Burnamm, and Marc Veasy.
They might have them, but if you put same-sex marriage up to a vote with their constituents, would it fly? The Democratic Party platform supports same-sex marriage, same-sex adoption, so the politicians will follow the party line. Most of the Democrats in Dallas vote blue for economic reasons, even if they disagree with the party socially (exceptions made for Oak Cliff, Oak Lawn and a couple neighborhoods in East Dallas). Dallas' blue streak is similar to Detroit's, it heavily voted down same-sex marriage but the elected Democratic officials support it.
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As for other religions elected to public office, yes there have been. Amir Omar was a councilman in Richardson for quite some time (hes Muslim).
That's Richardson. I know I read he lost re-election, though.
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Bobby Abthai (again Muslim) ran for Dallas city council and lost, but gained 43% of the vote.
Do you think his religion had anything to do with him losing?
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Another thing to consider is that the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth have non-discrimination ordinences. Dallas and Fort Worth also have domestic partnership benefits for employees. Heck, Houston Phoenix still dont have one. Does that make them more conservative?
El Paso is a pretty religious, socially conservative Democratic city like Dallas and it has those as well. Houston has non-discrimination ordinances, I don't know about Phoenix, but Phoenix seems more libertarian than anything so I doubt that would be a direction they'd go in.
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I guess in the end what Im trying to say is that you seem to have a habit of painting DFW as all the same conservative bigoted wasteland. Is there some of that in parts of DFW? Sure, but thats everywhere. All in all, the area is too diverse to be one thing or even mostly one thing. Did you know that the DFW area is (statistically) 27% evangelical Christian? Thats roughly the same as Atlanta and not much higher than Houston.
Let's compare that percentage to New York City metro, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, Boston and San Francisco. Dallas might not be small-town Mississippi in terms of being Bible Belty, but it's probably the most socially conservative of the top 10 metro areas. You can't deny the massive evangelical influence in the area, even if Catholics have the greater number. I don't see many Catholic churches (only one I know of by me is Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton), but I see large evangelical mega-churches all over the place.
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All in all, if we are really talking about the most conservative major metro areas, there isnt much of a difference between Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, or Phoenix. Is Dallas the most conservative of the bunch? I suppose it could be, but the difference is small if there is any difference at all.
I also made the point that Dallas is the most conservative of the top 10 largest cities in the US. I'm not saying Dallas is Greenville, Mississippi for being backwards and conservative, but compared to other cities (and metros if you take the whole area into account) of the same size, it lags pretty far behind in social progressiveness.
They might have them, but if you put same-sex marriage up to a vote with their constituents, would it fly? The Democratic Party platform supports same-sex marriage, same-sex adoption, so the politicians will follow the party line. Most of the Democrats in Dallas vote blue for economic reasons, even if they disagree with the party socially (exceptions made for Oak Cliff, Oak Lawn and a couple neighborhoods in East Dallas). Dallas' blue streak is similar to Detroit's, it heavily voted down same-sex marriage but the elected Democratic officials support it.
That's Richardson. I know I read he lost re-election, though.
Do you think his religion had anything to do with him losing?
El Paso is a pretty religious, socially conservative Democratic city like Dallas and it has those as well. Houston has non-discrimination ordinances, I don't know about Phoenix, but Phoenix seems more libertarian than anything so I doubt that would be a direction they'd go in.
Let's compare that percentage to New York City metro, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, Boston and San Francisco. Dallas might not be small-town Mississippi in terms of being Bible Belty, but it's probably the most socially conservative of the top 10 metro areas. You can't deny the massive evangelical influence in the area, even if Catholics have the greater number. I don't see many Catholic churches (only one I know of by me is Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton), but I see large evangelical mega-churches all over the place.
I also made the point that Dallas is the most conservative of the top 10 largest cities in the US. I'm not saying Dallas is Greenville, Mississippi for being backwards and conservative, but compared to other cities (and metros if you take the whole area into account) of the same size, it lags pretty far behind in social progressiveness.
1) Again, you missed the point. The nations opinion on same sex marriage changed drastically since that vote. You missed my point about LA and Orange counties also voting down same sex marriage in prop 8. Until you want to see things more objectively, you wont see the point.
2) Amir Omar lost his mayoral race. He was a thrice elected city councilman. By the way, did you know that Plano elected a black, democrat, haitian born, man over the head of the Collin County Republican party as mayor??? Address that one.
3) Bobby Abthai didnt lose because of his religion. The person he ran against had the endorsement of the councilwoman that vacated their seat.
4) Houston does NOT have a non-discrimination ordinance. Austin, Dallas, El Paso, and Fort Worth are the only Texas cities that do. San Antonio is currently voting on it. Houston also has no domestic partnership benefits at city or county level which Dallas has both.
5) I dont think you can definitively say that. Dallas is in a grouping of the most conservative large metro areas with Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix, but the most conservative? I cant think of anything that makes it stand out as much. Houston and Atlanta are just as religious as Dallas and Phoenix is more economically conservative albeit less religious.
1) Again, you missed the point. The nations opinion on same sex marriage changed drastically since that vote. You missed my point about LA and Orange counties also voting down same sex marriage in prop 8. Until you want to see things more objectively, you wont see the point.
This is all we have to work with when it comes to voting trends and social issues. While national support for same-sex marriage gas increased, Texas has always been extremely socially conservative and that won't change for a while. Los Angeles County voted for Prop 8 for the same reason why Dallas is a socially conservative city. Democratic voting, religious, socially conservative minority voters came out in force in support of Prop 8. Even then, it was VERY, VERY close... I think around 50-50 close whereas Dallas County voted heavily in favor of Prop 2.
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2) Amir Omar lost his mayoral race. He was a thrice elected city councilman. By the way, did you know that Plano elected a black, democrat, haitian born, man over the head of the Collin County Republican party as mayor??? Address that one.
I was talking about Dallas as a city, not the suburbs. I mentioned earlier that out of the top 10 largest cities in the US, Dallas was the most conservative. Plano and Richardson don't belong in that discussion. Plano's mayor isn't even a Democrat. He was endorsed by mostly moderate Republicans, where the extreme Tea Party types supported Moses.
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4) Houston does NOT have a non-discrimination ordinance. Austin, Dallas, El Paso, and Fort Worth are the only Texas cities that do. San Antonio is currently voting on it. Houston also has no domestic partnership benefits at city or county level which Dallas has both.
5) I dont think you can definitively say that. Dallas is in a grouping of the most conservative large metro areas with Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix, but the most conservative? I cant think of anything that makes it stand out as much. Houston and Atlanta are just as religious as Dallas and Phoenix is more economically conservative albeit less religious.
I think that's fair, but in my personal opinion Dallas edges them out. They're both "bluer" than Dallas, the on the list of the nation's most conservative cities, I think there were a few Dallas suburbs in the top ten alone. There's no real way to prove one more' conservative over the other.
^^^I got anti discrimination confused with benefits on Houston.
Where is the list of the nations most conservative cities? I would love to see it.
To be fair, Im not trying to say the metro area of Dallas is liberal, but it certainly isnt as closed minded and bigoted as youre making it sound. In reality, Dallas (city) is a left of center to liberal city and DFW as a metro area is a right of center metro area with suburbs ranging from left of center to extremely conservative. The exact same thing can be said for Houston and Atlanta with almost no exception.
As for which is most conservative, you are right, there is no way to really prove it. Again, I think of the major metro areas, DFW, Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix are the most conservative. Phoenix is more libertarian than the others.
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