How "blue" is your area?

[XemaSab]

:shrug:

(I'm posting this because I suspect that some of the "fault lines" on DU come from our experiences in our communities, and whether we perceive ourselves as a comfortable majority, powerless victims, or agents of our own change.)

[TBF]

1. I'm in Ron Paul's home district - it's not pretty. nt

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[XemaSab]

3. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Liberal_in_LA]

wow...that's more dem than los angeles

[bigwillq]

8. Hello.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[CTyankee]

4. At this point, it looks like CT will pick up a Dem governor's seat.

From a Republican. Also, we'll probably have another Dem in the Senate replacing Dodd. Not sure about the House races...hopefully, we won't lose any Dems...my Dem rep looks pretty solid...

[lunatica]

5. San Francisco Bay Area (I work in Berkeley and live in Oakland)

A fabulous shade of blue if I do say so myself.

[elifino]

6. Georgia nuff said

[Ineeda]

7. Barely purple Florida, blood red county. 2008 red/blue map at link.

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html

:puke:

[Fla Dem]

16. Same here, St Johns Cnty, n/t

[Dappleganger]

62. Hey, me too!

NW, over in Fruit Cove.

[Kerrytravelers]

9. A very blue part of Los Angeles. Republicans don't even bother setting up a campaign hq here.

I once saw someone here, on DU, years ago, go off on my town, calling a Conservative hole, etc. I tried hard not to laugh at loud.

We do have our local t-bag nut running. Just looking at the primary numbers alone, where both he and our Dem congressman both ran unopposed, the Dem almost tripled the number of votes the nut got. We also have a very large Green party in town. They usually vote Green in the primary, unless there is a Dem toss-up, and then in the GE, most of the Greens vote Dem.

Needless to say... I'm not worried. The local nut has plastered his sign all over town, but most people I see are like me, they look and laugh. He wasn't even registered to vote until 2008... and now he thinks he is going to Washington DC? :rofl:

[Arugula Latte]

10. Portland, Oregon ... Bluer than blue (hey, isn't that a song?)

[getthefacts]

11. Not sure anymore...

Massachusetts is becoming a funny place...

[Radical Activist]

12. Red district. Blue state.

[sad sally]

13. My district is so red that republicans are allowed a huge

always-bashing-Democrats sign along the Interstate. And the local paper's candidate endorsements for every office are for, you guessed it, republicans. In fact, because of the voting system we have - top two in the primaries, not necessary to be of different parties, just the top two - we have some positions where there are no D's to be found. Thank goodness the major cities are BLUE, as is our Governor.

[Touchdown]

14. Denver here. Very blue city. The state? Meh, not so much.

Purple... but kind of maroon now.

[Catshrink]

15. The reddest of the red.

A neoLibertarian/LDS stronghold.

[rucky]

17. The reddest district of the purplest state.

[Raine]

18. I live in blue Los Angeles County BUT

I'm in a repuke district that is basically red ... I'm in enemy terrority. :-(

[rox63]

19. Blue state, purple district

Blue state: Massachusetts; Purple district: 5th district (Merrimack Valley)

[BlueGirlRedState]

20. Waco

take pity on me.

[texastoast]

27. Take heart

I travel up to Lake Whitney often and for the first time ever, I saw Democratic bumperstickers for Bill White in Bosque and Hill Counties. The TransTexas Corridor pissed off at lot of Bush's base there. Good.

[rainbow4321]

34. I feel for you...I'm in Plano :(

Land of Sam Johnson :( :(

[w8liftinglady]

64. I live in Red Oak...Ellis(Barton's) County.You have my sympathy,neighbor

[Manifestor_of_Light]

68. Barton's my rep too. Sympathy to all of us.

I'm in Houston County, a bit farther south.

[marmar]

21. Blue district (Sander Levin) in a blue state (Michigan)

nt

[MrSlayer]

22. Philly is as blue as you can be, the state is purple.

Well actually it's red with two large blues splotches on either side.

[Barack_America]

29. Yeah. 96% for Obama in my ward back in 2008.

[Cleita]

23. I have the distinction of living in the reddest

congressional district in California. It's so red, the Democrats and other parties don't bother to run any candidates against the incumbent.

[texastoast]

24. That's my county

78% straight Republican ticket when I started working politics here about 10 years ago.

And now we are at about 70%. And what makes me so mad about the party is like your county, they just give up on us. It was grassroots Democrats who have made the difference--not the party's interest. We all work hard for our candidates.

[XemaSab]

25. I'm not sure the democratic party can find Redding, California on a map

We have uncontested races here, and while we do have a party office, the same lazy jackass has been in there for 20 years and he does NOTHING.

It's very easy to sit here and be pissed off at the democrats. :(

[mitchtv]

57. east riverside cty CD45 is changing

always repub; ignored by the party. Then, Obama took the district and we have a viable candidate on the red to blue list.With any luck Mary Bono Mack is out this time

[Codeine]

73. Redding! I used to date a girl from there. nt

[Raine]

30. I don't know if mine is THE reddest in CA but it's

pretty damn red. I have RW nutjob neighbors surrounding me on all sides. :puke: Thank goodness that when I go a few miles in any direction I enter zones of sanity but where I live ... :crazy: :thumbsdown:

edit: typo

[pinboy3niner]

63. Same here - 25th CD, Buck Mckeon

2008 election results:

Buck McKeon (R)
58.3%
132,799 votes

'Jackie' Conaway (D)
41.7%
95,026 votes

[Codeine]

74. Our part of CA is pretty red as well. CD44 in West Riverside and a chunk of OC.

We have the honor of being represented by one of the most corrupt Congressmen in America according to CREW.

[Rochester]

26. Red district in a blue state

It has its advantages. It's relatively uncrowded compared to Chicago, and cost of living is much lower, while the State hands down Blue legislation.

[Arkana]

28. Blue born and bred and we'll stay blue until the day we die.

Massachusetts 1st, muhfuggas.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

31. Xavier Becerra's district - very blue in L.A.

But I had to call CA a purple state because some of the slimiest of the slimy Repubs are in power, too. Like Darryl Issa and some more doofuses in Orange County and the Central Valley. Actually, guess it's more like a stew - mostly blue with a bunch of red meatballs floating around tainting the otherwise delicious dish.

[stray cat]

32. It's been rainy lately and overcast

[XemaSab]

33. That too

:D

[sakabatou]

35. Is there a good map/site

to see what color your county is?

[XemaSab]

36. Here:

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html

And if you're in Palo Alto, it's VERY blue. :hi:

[sakabatou]

42. Thanks ^_^

[Dawson Leery]

44. kick

[suffragette]

52. The House of Representatives map is a good one to look at, too

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/house/map.html

That's a nice link, XemaSab.

One thing to take into account is that some states didn't have certain elections then (for Senator) or don't have maps (Governor). For example, in Washington state, we have perpetual RW/BIAW candidate Rossi running for each of those races in turn in 2006, 2008 and 2010 and the voting for that shows the split of blue/red and the purple results pretty clearly.

[XemaSab]

67. It's a good one, but god is it depressing how many Republicans

California sends to Washington every year.

The California democratic party sucks, and that map is proof.

[suffragette]

71. Keep in mind numbers and population vs land mass

From GovTrack:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/replookup.xpd?state=CA

Do a find and note that 36 are Democrats, 2 in Senate and 34 in the House. 19 are Republicans.

Could always be better, but it's never as bad as the coloration of land mass makes it appear.

It's similar in Washington State.

It is good to be aware how tight some of the races can be, though.

[XemaSab]

72. I think the part that's depressing for me

is that the California democratic party doesn't seem to be making efforts in the red areas.

Or at least not in this red area. :(

[suffragette]

76. Sorry to hear that

I lived in Orange County back when B2 Bob Dornan was voted out, and remember the "prevailing wisdom" that it couldn't be done. But it was done there and can be done in other areas. Need a state district version of Dean's 50 state push.

[readmoreoften]

37. Blue district (Austin) Red State (Texas)

[independentpiney]

38. Red county/Purple CD/ Blue state- NJ3rd n/t

[pruple]

39. Ann Arbor, nice and blue

that's why I live here. I called our state purple.

[Crystal Clarity]

40. I chose purple in a blue state

However the purple congressional district of which I speak is geographically huge (the largest east of the Mississippi). So if it were broken down a bit more by county or town for example, I'm actually in a solid red area. It's VERY rare to see a Dem win my town or the many towns surrounding it for local state senate and state representative races.

The state itself has traditionally been blue mostly due to the more populated southern area. But the further one travels into the northern interior, the more conservative it becomes (generally speaking). I love living in the boonies but the fact that most of my neighbors are R's can be sort of a drag.

[aikoaiko]

41. My county chose Obama, but we were just a handful that did in GA.

I think Georgia is 60-40 Red-Blue.

[LAGC]

43. BLOOD RED district and state! (Idaho)

The Republicans have been in control of this state for so long, they've effectively gerrymandered the Congressional Districts so that the only blue semi-urban areas of the state are completely dwarfed by the rural areas. They split the area of Greater Boise right down the middle, so that instead of having one combined blue voting bloc, both sides are outnumbered by the rural areas instead. So the only Democrats we can expect to elect to Federal office for the foreseeable future are Blue Dogs like Walt Minnick.

[Blue_In_AK]

45. Since Alaska only has one representative, Don Young,

I guess I would have to say we are a red district since he keeps winning (for some unknown reason) year after year after year. However, Alaska as a whole is far more purple than most people realize. Our state legislature is pretty evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, and the Democratic gubernatorial ticket has a fairly good chance of winning this year, as does Scott McAdams running for US Senate. With over 60% of our electorate being nonpartisan, it's always hard to predict how things will go.

My state House and Senate district are solidly Democratic and have been for years.

[Alexander]

46. Hartford CT, a deep blue district in a fairly blue state.

The last Republican who represented this district did so in the late 50s, for only one term.

CT is a blue state, if a lighter shade of blue - the last time it went Republican in a presidential election was for Poppy Bush, just barely, in 1988.

Our governor is a Republican but she's retiring, and she's fairly moderate by national Republican standards. Dan Malloy, the Democrat, has held a pretty consistent lead in the governor's race. And Blumenthal's going to trounce McMahon in the Senate race.

By 2013, when Lieberman retires or is replaced, I predict all the statewide offices in CT will be held by Democrats (I don't count Lieberman as one since his opportunistic party switch).

[old mark]

47. My part of PA is purple, but that's because the Democrat we have in the House is a Blue Dog.

I believe we will win the Senate race and probably win the Governorship, but that ol' Blue Dog will be re-elected, too.
I'm pretty sure our state legislator-a good Democrat - will be re-elected, too...the GOPers here really HATE him, so I know he is doing right...I have his yard sign in my front window next to my Obama sign.

mark

[Odin2005]

48. Purple district, Blue state, my rep is Collin DINO Peterson.

[lightningandsnow]

49. Well, in Canada....

The Conservatives are blue, and the Liberals are red. (And the New Democratic Party is orange.)

Confusing, huh? :hi:

I live in a Liberal district. Metro Toronto is mostly Liberal with a few NDP pockets, although the suburbs tend to vote Conservative. The remainder of the province is mostly conservative, although the most rural northern areas vote NDP. (I was surprised - the NDP are social democrats!) If we had "purple" districts here, my current area downtown would be orangey-red, while my old district (very conservative - they usually elect Liberals, but the most socially conservative of the party) would be purple.

And that is your introduction to Canadian politics for the day!

[Odin2005]

54. With the color coding it was actually the same here untill 2000.

The Dems were red and the GOP was blue, because in the western world traditionally Red = left and Blue = right. My college US Government textbook, published in 2004, still has the old D = Red and R = Blue colors.

[lightningandsnow]

58. For real?

I had no idea! Why'd they change it?

Silly Americans, always wanting to be different. :P

[Odin2005]

59. I can;t remember, honestly.

[proud2BlibKansan]

50. Red state, blue dog congressman

He's retiring and it will be a miracle if the Dem candidate wins. We also have a Dem governor about to be replaced by Sam Brownback.

So we are red, red, red.

[Tx4obama]

51. Houston: blue county. State is leaning purple on it's way to blue someday ;)

Many folks don't realize just how purple/blue Texas is becoming.
In the 2008 election Obama won the cities/counties of Austin/Travis, Dallas/Dallas, Houston/Harris, El Paso, San Antonio etc.
McCain won a only a couple of the big cities/counties Ft. Worth, Plano and can't remember the other one. The majority of McCains votes came from the less populated / less educated areas.
Obama received over 3.5 MILLION votes, McCain under 4.6, it was much closer than I thought it would be.
Here in Houston we elected our first gay female mayor :)

VOTE FOR DEMOCRAT BILL WHITE FOR GOVERNOR Nov 2nd - we MUST send Rick Perry to the unemployment line!

p.s. Here's a link to find out where to 'early vote' in Texas: http://www.billwhitefortexas.com/ev/

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

53. I'm very lucky and sometimes insulated in this BLUE state.

My congressional district is very blue with Chris Van Hollen as my congressman. However, for years, the residents in the district sent Republican Connie Morella to Congress many times. She was considered a fiscal moderate and a social liberal. They finally got rid of her and voted for Van Hollen.

I used to live in College Park when I was in school, and that's Steny Hoyer's district. Very blue. A college town. Part of Prince George's County, a majority black county. Very progressive. Steny will have no problem. The guy running against him, Charles Lollar, is a black teabagger. I went to college with him. Smart, but a jerk and arrogant.

The state itself has had Republican governors in the past, like Bob Ehrlich, who's now running against Martin O'Malley.

Two senators have typically been Democrats. Barbara Mikulski is up again and will have no problem winning.

I'm most proud of Ben Cardin, however, who's been a reliable progressive, and a very sweet man.

[Truth2Tell]

55. Super Blue CD, purple State

Urban Seattle. Close to the bluest CD in the USA. Nader beat Bush in the 9th in 2000. A Republican can't break 20% here. But the State is in play, and Patty Murray may now be regretting giving her base the finger for the last 10 years.

[w8liftinglady]

56. is 89% Repub blood red?I live in Red Hell,Texas.

[DainBramaged]

60. NJ home of the dumbest Governor in the land....

We as a State haven't stopped smacking ourselves in the forehead with out palms since this turd was elected. Never again.

[DailyGrind51]

61. My associate pastor used Cheney's shooting his friend in the face as an

example of carelessness this morning. I'm in Jan Schakowsky's Congressional District. :dem:

[NYC Liberal]

65. In 2008, state was 62% Obama, county was 85% Obama. nt

[Shining Jack]

77. And in 2010?

[NYC Liberal]

78. Well. My rep, Carolyn Maloney, has a ~50-point lead over the Republican.

Obama has a 57% approval rating in New York.

I can't find a poll for his approval rating specifically in New York City but I'm guessing it's higher than the overall state, given the more conservative areas upstate that would influence the statewide poll.

[Jamastiene]

66. I think I just voted wrong.

I would say my county is blue, my district is purple and my state is red...or was. It went blue this time, but I'm not sure how long that will last. There seems to be a backlash lately. Things might not stay as good next go around. I wish we could keep Larry Kissell and Bev Purdue though. I'm going to miss them if they lose. Kissell is up this time but not Bev Purdue.

[csziggy]

69. I'm in North Florida - our county is blue, but the rest of the district is red

We're lucky to be able to have a Blue Dog (Allen Boyd) as our Rep. His opponent this time around is trying to smear him by claiming he voted with Nancy Pelosi too often!

Last Senatorial race for our area was between Bill Nelson and Katherine Harris.

While I will vote for more progressive Democratic candidates in the primaries, I feel I have to vote for the conservative Democrats that win the nominations or we will end up with Republican nut jobs in Congress. Voting third party is just handing the office to the Republicans around here.

[TheKentuckian]

70. blue to purpleish in a red to somewhat purple state

[ChoppinBroccoli]

75. Purple/Purple Here

I live in Ohio, which is the very definition of a purple State. I think it's as close to being 50-50 as any State in the nation.

As for my Congressional district, I'd say it's purple too. My current Congressperson is Mary Jo Kilroy (D), but she won the seat after longtime rep Deborah Pryce (R) retired. Kilroy is our current rep, but she's in a tight race against a Republican toolbox who she's already beaten twice (the last time by only a handful of votes). So guess what's probably going to happen this time. All the hillbillies and upper class twits will band together to get the former bank lobbyist to Washington so he can continue to allow Wall Street to legally pick our pockets. Or maybe I'm giving this guy's campaign too much credit.

[anarch]

79. blue district, no state

sort of a powerless majority.