Greek-American vote

[Thunderbird is the word]

Any data on Greek-American voting patterns? I wonder if they tend to lean Republican. I've noticed a lot of local Republican candidates in New York with Greek last names.

[King of Kensington]

Haven't seen any real data.  Greek Americans are more affluent and educated, more likely to be in business and much closer to the immigrant experience than most other white ethnic groups.

My guess is they have a Democratic tilt, but I don't know.

[RINO Tom]

Haven't seen any real data.  Greek Americans are more affluent and educated, more likely to be in business and much closer to the immigrant experience than most other white ethnic groups.

My guess is they have a Democratic tilt, but I don't know.

Does not compute.

[DINGO Joe]

Have no idea what it is now (and it's so tiny to matter), but back in the day of Dukakis, the Greeks were supposedly Republican leaning but ponying up cash for Dukakis.

[Derpist]

Presumably Republican. Almost every white ethnic group is heavily Republican.

[Ebsy]

The region with the most highly concentrated Greek population is Chicago, especially Cook County.

Looking at the precincts that I could isolate as having significant Greek population, they were split about 50/50 between Romney and Obama.

[Green Line]

The region with the most highly concentrated Greek population is Chicago, especially Cook County.

Looking at the precincts that I could isolate as having significant Greek population, they were split about 50/50 between Romney and Obama.

What precincts are you looking at?  I can't think of any Greek areas.

[King of Kensington]

How about in NY?  Are they concentrated enough outside their Astoria enclave to get a sense?

[BuckeyeNut]

Presumably Republican. Almost every white ethnic group is heavily Republican.

Don't think that holds as much water with Mediterranean types.

[Torie]

How about in NY?  Are they concentrated enough outside their Astoria enclave to get a sense?

Astoria is mostly Hispanic now.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Presumably Republican. Almost every white ethnic group is heavily Republican.

Don't think that holds as much water with Mediterranean types.

It doesn't. Italian-Americans are a swing-to-lean-Republican demographic.

[Torie]

Per wikipedia, Tarpon Springs, Florida supposedly is the most Greek place in the US. Circa 2008, it had a Pub PVI of about 45 basis points. So as goes the Greek vote, so goes the nation, at least if Tarpon Springs is indicative.

[King of Kensington]

I don't think anywhere close to a majority or even a plurality of Astoria residents were Greek, even in the 70s and 80s.

Top census tracts for Greek ancestry in NY:

http://www.usa.com/rank/new-york-state--greek-as-first-ancestry-population-percentage--census-tract-rank.htm?hl=NY081045500&hlst=NY&yr=9000

[Derpist]

Presumably Republican. Almost every white ethnic group is heavily Republican.

Don't think that holds as much water with Mediterranean types.

It doesn't. Italian-Americans are a swing-to-lean-Republican demographic.

http://cho.pol.illinois.edu/wendy/papers/white.pdf

This paper at least suggests that Irish, Italians, and French all vote Republican. I'm not sure if they vote more Republican than other white ethnic groups though.

The recent Republican uptick in Northern Maine suggests that a lot of these groups are shifting though.

[BuckeyeNut]

Presumably Republican. Almost every white ethnic group is heavily Republican.

Don't think that holds as much water with Mediterranean types.

It doesn't. Italian-Americans are a swing-to-lean-Republican demographic.

http://cho.pol.illinois.edu/wendy/papers/white.pdf

This paper at least suggests that Irish, Italians, and French all vote Republican. I'm not sure if they vote more Republican than other white ethnic groups though.

The recent Republican uptick in Northern Maine suggests that a lot of these groups are shifting though.

That seems like a more recent change (that matches up with Catholics trending more and more Republican in recent years).

[King of Kensington]

My guess is they have a Democratic tilt, but I don't know.

Meant Republican tilt.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

My understanding is that Greek Americans generally seem to be pretty liberal, at least on social issues.  Spiro Agnew, Michael Dukakis, Paul Tsongas, and Olympia Snowe all seemed to be either liberals or moderates who leaned left on social issues.

Presumably Republican. Almost every white ethnic group is heavily Republican.

Don't think that holds as much water with Mediterranean types.

It doesn't. Italian-Americans are a swing-to-lean-Republican demographic.

Since when?  I thought Irish and Italian Americans were the most Democrat, at least the ones who are Catholic.  (It may be different for Protestants).

[King of Kensington]

Is there a difference in voting between postwar Greeks (who make up the majority in NY) and descendants of earlier immigrants (more spread out around the country)?

Re: Italian Americans - they seem more GOP in the NYC area, more D upstate, New England, Chicago, California etc.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

It's downright bizarre just how many Greek-American politicians there are. They're a pretty insignificant ethnic group that has managed to produce a number of very important governors, including Spiro Agnew, Charlie Crist and Michael Dukakis, along with a plethora of congressmen/women and holders of lower offices.

[King of Kensington]

I remember reading that Greek Americans had among the highest incomes and educational attainments among white ethnic groups (after Jews).  And that the early Greek immigrants rose into the middle class faster than Italians etc.

They also didn't really settle in ethnic enclaves.

It was the later Greek immigrants that formed Greek neighborhoods.  Astoria, Queens wasn't Greek until the 1960s.

ETA:  While Detroit had a "Greektown" I'm not sure how Greek it actually was.