The most liberal and most conservative cities in the country

[question everything]

From the Bay Area Center for Voting Research http://www.votingresearch.org/

Nice going, Detroit.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 11, 2005
CONTACT: Jason Alderman, [phone]
or Lindsay Elizabeth Hogan, [phone]

NEW STUDY RANKS AMERICA’S MOST LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE CITIES

Detroit tops liberal list; Provo, UT most conservative

BERKELEY, CA – A new nationwide study released today by the nonpartisan Bay Area Center for Voting Research (BACVR) ranks the political leanings of every American city and finds that Detroit, Michigan is the most liberal and Provo, Utah the most conservative.

In all, the BACVR researchers examined voting patterns of 237 American cities with populations of over 100,000 and ranked them each on liberal and conservative scales.

The list of America’s most liberal cities is dominated by cities with large African American populations that are concentrated in the Northeast, Midwest and California. Conversely, the study found that the staunchest conservative cities are clustered in the South and interior West and have extremely low numbers of African American residents.

“Detroit and Provo epitomize America’s political, economic and racial polarization,” said Jason Alderman a BACVR director. “As the most conservative city in America, Provo is overwhelmingly white and solidly middle class. This is in stark contrast to Detroit, which is impoverished, black and the most liberal.”

Gary, Indiana, a rust belt former steel town, comes in as America’s second most liberal city, followed by Berkeley, California, which ranks third. Washington, D.C. comes in as the fourth most liberal and Oakland, California comes in fifth.

On the list of the nation’s most conservative cities, Texas cements its reputation as America’s most rock-ribbed state, having three cities in the top five. Lubbock and Abilene, Texas rank as the second and third most conservative cities, respectively, followed by Hialeah, Florida in fourth place and Plano, Texas in fifth.

[LiberalVoice]

1. "Northeast, Midwest and California"

Sooooo....The right side, the middle and, the left side.

[Erika]

2. I'm amused about Provo

Almost 100% LDS. Few of them pay taxes. With their 10% charity to the church and their large families few invest in this country by paying taxes. Utah is in the top of the red states that take far more from the feds than they pay in.

[darkism]

3. Madison at #34?

It should at least be in the top 25.

I freaking <3 that place to death. :D

[question everything]

7. And Dallas at 32 - the first TX city

The next is Austin at 93..

[catabryna]

14. Having lived in both cities...

Those numbers should be reversed. Austin is much more liberal than Dallas.

[Jamison]

4. I must say

I'm surprised to find St. Louis on the top 25 of most liberal cities.

When I think about it though, it is pretty liberal inside the city limits, but once you leave those city limits, the landscape turns bright red.

[safi0]

6. When I looked

At the most conservative cities, I think I've heard of perhaps a half dozen of those cities.

[nickinSTL]

16. well...not quite...

Yes, the city is blue, and the rural areas are red, but there are some blue/purple areas in the county. (and some red, too)

I'm really surprised to see St. Louis ranked higher than Boston and Madison...:wtf:

[Withywindle]

5. Hi from #17

Sweet Home Chicago! :hi:

Whoo-hoo. Now we just need to work on getting into that Top 10.

[Jamison]

8. Yeah you guys up in Chicago rock

I was up there last summer & saw PLENTY of Kerry/Edwards and anti-* bumper stickers on cars.

[snowbear]

9. HmmMMmm.. I'm not so sure about that research..

Why are they calling it strictly "liberal" or "conservative"?

The majority of voters in Anchorage (and in the state) are registered Independents.

What makes Alaska vote red in national elections? Three letters: O - I - L

If the candidate isn't all for drilling, fageddaboutit! Any candidate who doesn't want to drill the crap out of ANWR is toast.

But "conservative"? :crazy: No way.. they spend like crazy here, give out free money to every resident each October (oil bennies $$), it's a VERY pro-choice "stay outta my business" attititude here, marijuana is legal for personal use.. :smoke: .. and the mayor is a liberal Democrat.

One issue voters (OIL) will keep national elections red - unless a pro-drilling Dem runs.. :shrug: (How often does that happen in presidential elections, LOL)

There may not be a huge African American population like their study discusses, but it's diverse with a huge native american, and eskimo population.

Something seems fishy about that study.. :think:

[NuttyFluffers]

10. Well, I'll be the first to worry about bias, being SF area rez and all...

Just because, if anyone should criticize first, it should be us -- Bay Area Center for Voting Research and all. But the results are pleasing. Berkeley, Oakland, SF all in the top ten and this region the most liberal in the nation. We represent well in this study. But we don't like to hog all the glory; I'm very pleased to see other cities up there. And who knows, perhaps it overlooked something here and there...

Oh hell, I can't contain myself :woohoo: :applause:

I'm glad to see DC, Detroit, Flint, Newark, Cambridge, and Gary, Indiana up so high. Kudos. Come, contemplate your navel with us! :D

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Guess I'm gonna stay here for awhile...

...crappy weather notwithstanding. Minneapolis made the top 25 liberal list!

[Jamison]

12. Crappy weather?

Jeez, you guys have beautiful winters there in Minneapolis. I'm jealous.

[RebelOne]

13. Hialeah, Florida is just about 100% Hispanic. n/t

[CTLawGuy]

15. Hartford and New Haven

both solidly liberal, esp. Hartford.

Even the Hartford suburbs are blue, ie very wealthy West Hartford is blue. Also Bloomfield, with its high African American population is one of the most Dem suburbs in the state.

[SunDrop23]

17. Full list of liberal cities is here

http://votingresearch.org/USAliberalcities.doc

[Le Taz Hot]

18. Can we just note,

for all you Fresno bashers, that Fresno is NOT on the list of most conservative? Just more evidence to counter your misconceptions. Thank you.

LTH
Fresno, CA

[Gormy Cuss]

19. Interesting, but hard to tell how reliable the result is.

From the thin methodology description, the team created a rank order based solely on vote distribution for the 2004 presidential race. Third party candidates were clustered with the two major party candidates based on party ideology (presumably, Greens were added to the Kerry vote, for example.)They then focused on the top 25 ranks for 'most liberal' and 'most conservative' and compared a number of demographics to look for a telling characteristic and the conclusion drawn was the racial indicator expressed a binary choice (percent African-American, percent white.)

Their report does not say whether the racial composition correlation extends to the cities with ranks higher than 25. There is no mention of significance testing, nor of any other rigorous research methods. Therefore, the conclusion that percentage of African-Americans is an indicator of liberal or conservativeness may be weak or not observed in cities with higher ranks.

Lacking better info, I view this as an interesting observation but that's it. Here's hoping another team of researchers tests this finding and publishes a more comprehensive analysis.

[Mountainman]

20. It must be a real pisser to be a conservative in CA. We have a lot of

cities on the list. On Bakersfield radio yesterday an announcer was talking about this study and sounded real proud that Bakersfield was number 8 on the conservative list and then said that Detroit was the most liberal on "their" poll as if liberals were some foreign group or something.