Politics of San Diego County

Before 2008, San Diego County historically had been 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; he won a majority of county votes again in 2012. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the county by almost 20%, the largest margin for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1936.

San Diego County vote
by party in presidential elections
Year GOP DEM Others
2016 36.6% 477,766 56.3% 735,476 7.1% 93,158
2012 45.0% 536,726 52.2% 626,957 2.5% 30,266
2008 43.8% 541,032 54.0% 666,581 2.3% 27,890
2004 52.5% 596,033 46.3% 526,437 1.2% 13,881
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 vote
by party in gubernatorial elections
Year GOP DEM
2014 48.93% 331,942 51.07% 346,419
2010 49.8% 452,205 44.0% 399,845
2006 65.5% 509,059 30.2% 234,938
2003 59.5% 485,563 23.6% 192,605
2002 51.7% 342,095 40.6% 268,278
1998 46.3% 340,834 49.5% 364,169
1994 63.4% 477,439 32.0% 240,937
1990 57.1% 383,959 36.4% 244,759
1986 65.2% 381,094 31.5% 184,395
1982 52.8% 330,037 44.6% 279,113
1978 35.9% 197,167 57.5% 316,223
1974 54.2% 249,444 42.8% 196,930
1970 60.1% 253,378 37.5% 158,098
1966 63.8% 252,070 36.2% 142,890
1962 55.8% 201,969 42.4% 153,389

The city of San Diego itself is more Democratic than the county's average and has voted for Democrats Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Obama, and Clinton respectively, in the last seven presidential elections. With a few exceptions, areas close to the Mexican border tend to be more Democratic, while North County tends be more Republican. 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.

Notably, the city of Coronado has supported every Republican presidential candidate since at least 1964, [1], and likely earlier given the voting patterns of the county in that era.

Election Central

San Diego County uses Golden Hall, a convention facility next to San Diego's City Hall, as "Election Central." The County Registrar of Voters rents the hall to distribute election results. Supporters and political observers gather to watch the results come in; supporters of the various candidates parade around the hall, carrying signs and chanting; candidates give their victory and concession speeches and host parties for campaign volunteers and donors at the site; and television stations broadcast live from the floor of the convention center.[2] The atmosphere at Election Central on the evening of election day has been compared to the voting portion of a political party national convention.[3]

Federal and state representation

In the United States House of Representatives, San Diego County is split between five congressional districts:[4]

In the California State Assembly, San Diego County is split between seven legislative districts:[5]

In the California State Senate, San Diego County is split between four legislative districts:[6]

Voter registration
Population and registered voters (2018)
Total population[7] 3,337,685
  Registered voters[8][note 1] 1,671,555 50.1%
    Democratic[8] 611,831 36.6%
    Republican[8] 491,783 29.4%
    Democratic–Republican spread[8] +120,048 +7.2%
    No party preference[8] 476,186 28.4%
    American Independent[8] 56,167 3.4%
    Libertarian[8] 15,418 0.9%
    Green[8] 6,989 0.4%
    Other[8] 8,312 0.5%
    Peace and Freedom[8] 4,140 0.3%

According to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, as of April 2018, there are 1,671,555 registered voters in San Diego County. Of those, 611,831 (36.6%) are registered Democratic, 491,783 (29.4%) are registered Republican, 476,186 (28.4%) declined to state a political party, 56,167 (3.4%) are registered American Independence Party, 15,418 (0.9%) are registered Libertarian, 6,989 (0.4%) are registered Green, and 4,869 (0.3%) are registered Peace & Freedom. An additional 8,312 (0.5%) are identified as Miscellaneous, or Other political parties.[8]

Voter registration by city

Gay rights

On Nov 4, 2008 San Diego County voted 53.71% 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.[9]

Notes
  1. Percentage of registered voters with respect to total population. Percentages of party members with respect to registered voters follow.
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References
  1. https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2016-general/ssov/pres-by-political-districts.pdf
  2. Libby, Sarah (November 5, 2012). "Where to Find Us on Election Day". Voice of San Diego. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  3. Amid the celebrations, farewell | The San Diego Union-Tribune
  4. "Counties by County and by District". California Citizens Redistricting Commission. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  5. "Communities of Interest — County". California Citizens Redistricting Commission. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  6. "Communities of Interest — County". California Citizens Redistricting Commission. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  7. U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B02001. U.S. Census website. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  8. "Report of Registration - State Reporting Districts" (PDF). sdvote.com. County of San Diego. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  9. San Diego County Proposition 8 Results by Community
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