Politics of San Diego County

San Diego County vote
by party in presidential elections

Year	GOP	DEM	Others
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

San Diego County has historically 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.

The city of San Diego itself is more Democratic than the county's average and has voted for Democrats Clinton, Gore, Kerry, and Obama, respectively, in the last six 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.

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.^[1] The atmosphere at Election Central on the evening of election day has been compared to the voting portion of a political party national convention.^[2]

Federal and state representation

In the United States House of Representatives, San Diego County is split between five congressional districts:^[3]

• California's 49th congressional district, represented by Republican Darrell Issa
• California's 50th congressional district, represented by Republican Duncan D. Hunter
• California's 51st congressional district, represented by Democrat Juan Vargas
• California's 52nd congressional district, represented by Democrat Scott Peters and
• California's 53rd congressional district, represented by Democrat Susan Davis.

In the California State Assembly, San Diego County is split between seven legislative districts:^[4]

• the 71st Assembly District, represented by Republican Brian Jones,
• the 75th Assembly District, represented by Republican Marie Waldron,
• the 76th Assembly District, represented by Republican Rocky Chávez,
• the 77th Assembly District, represented by Republican Brian Maienschein,
• the 78th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Toni Atkins,
• the 79th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Shirley Weber, and
• the 80th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Lorena Gonzalez.

In the California State Senate, San Diego County is split between four legislative districts:^[5]

• the 36th Senate District, represented by Republican Patricia Bates,
• the 38th Senate District, represented by Republican Joel Anderson,
• the 39th Senate District, represented by Democrat Marty Block, and
• the 40th Senate District, represented by Democrat Ben Hueso.

Voter registration

Population and registered voters (2014)
Total population[6]	3,060,849
Registered voters[7][note 1]	1,530,462	50.0%
Democratic[7]	531,941	34.8%
Republican[7]	503,639	32.9%
Democratic–Republican spread[7]	+28,302	+1.9%
No party preference[7]	412,807	27.0%
American Independent[7]	52,088	3.4%
Libertarian[7]	12,484	0.8%
Green[7]	7,668	0.5%
Other[7]	5,695	0.4%
Peace and Freedom[7]	4,140	0.3%

According to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, as of June 2013, there are 1,556,739 registered voters in San Diego County. Of those, 547,897 (35.2%) are registered Democratic, 526,306 (33.8%) are registered Republican, 401,340 (25.8%) declined to state a political party, 51,993 (3.3%) are registered American Independence Party, 11,657 (0.7%) are registered Libertarian, 7,675 (0.5%) are registered Green, and 4,012 (0.3%) are registered Peace & Freedom.^[8]

Voter registration by city

Cities by population and voter registration
City	Population[6]	Registered voters[7] [note 1]	Democratic[7]	Republican[7]	D–R spread[7]	Other[7]	No party preference[7]
Carlsbad	102,342	64.7%	28.0%	42.0%	-14.0%	8.5%	24.9%
Chula Vista	236,218	48.2%	42.0%	27.7%	+14.3%	6.9%	26.1%
Coronado	19,423	55.0%	24.5%	47.3%	-22.8%	8.0%	23.5%
Del Mar	4,175	77.2%	34.2%	34.7%	-0.5%	7.4%	26.7%
El Cajon	98,813	40.9%	33.7%	37.4%	-3.7%	9.5%	23.2%
Encinitas	59,223	67.8%	35.1%	32.8%	+2.3%	9.0%	26.4%
Escondido	142,573	41.8%	28.3%	42.4%	-14.1%	9.3%	23.7%
Imperial Beach	26,348	42.9%	37.1%	26.7%	+10.4%	10.4%	29.6%
La Mesa	56,722	58.3%	37.9%	32.5%	+5.4%	9.8%	23.6%
Lemon Grove	25,250	51.2%	44.5%	27.7%	+16.8%	8.4%	22.6%
National City	58,015	32.9%	48.9%	19.5%	+29.4%	7.0%	27.2%
Oceanside	166,139	50.5%	31.6%	37.8%	-6.2%	9.2%	25.1%
Poway	47,762	61.5%	24.8%	45.7%	-20.9%	7.8%	24.8%
San Diego	1,296,437	52.6%	40.2%	27.0%	+13.2%	8.2%	27.7%
San Marcos	80,709	48.5%	29.3%	40.6%	-11.3%	9.1%	24.8%
Santee	53,302	59.2%	27.0%	43.9%	-16.9%	9.7%	23.2%
Solana Beach	12,864	68.0%	32.4%	37.1%	-4.7%	7.4%	26.0%
Vista	93,293	40.6%	29.9%	39.6%	-9.7%	9.4%	24.8%

Gay rights

On Nov 4, 2008 San Diego County voted 53.8% 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.

References

1. Libby, Sarah (November 5, 2012). "Where to Find Us on Election Day". Voice of San Diego. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
2. Amid the celebrations, farewell | The San Diego Union-Tribune
3. "Counties by County and by District". California Citizens Redistricting Commission. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
4. "Communities of Interest — County". California Citizens Redistricting Commission. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
5. "Communities of Interest — County". California Citizens Redistricting Commission. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
6. U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B02001. American FactFinder. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
7. "Report of Registration - State Reporting Districts" (PDF). sdvote.com. County of San Diego. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
8. "Report of Registration - State Reporting Districts" (PDF). San Diego County. December 3, 2015.
9. San Diego County Proposition 8 Results by Community