Occupations and voting

[King of Kensington]

What are the most Democratic- and Republican-voting occupations?

My guess for most Democratic:  academics, scientists, social workers, writers, artistic professions, union officials

Most Republican:  police, prison guards and wardens, farmers

How do other professions such as physicians, dentists, lawyers, stockbrokers, accountants, engineers, pilots, nurses, schoolteachers, real estate agents, etc. break down?

[RFayette]

Back-of-the-envelope analysis here.  Feel free to correct/critique this:

Physicians:  swing group, but healthcare law caused them to favor Romney in 2012
http://www.benefitspro.com/2012/10/11/most-physicians-back-romney
Engineers:  My guess is this is a pretty swing constituency as well, with computer science being one of the more liberal and mechanical/industrial engineering probably swinging more conservative (associated with manufacturing and transportation, which tend to lean more conservative as industries)
Accountants:  I'm pretty sure these folks do lean Republican, along with most general business types
Stockbrokers:  probably lean Republican in a normal election year
Dentists:  definitely lean GOP here  ( http://thewealthydentist.com/surveyresults/058-dentists-presidential-election-2.htm )
Nurses and schoolteachers:  Both lean Democratic as evidenced by the unions, but nursing professors tend to be more conservative than other college professors, and there are certainly plenty of GOPers in both fields.
Pilots- my gut is this group leans Republican due to its high male % and the proportion of them ahving military experience.





What's interesting is the big divide between the voting habits of scientists and engineers/physicians.  I think the big factors at play is the smaller factor of government grants for engineers/physicians as well as a much smaller likelihood of having their work tie into the climate change issue.  Religiosity is also a factor; I know multiple scientists who go to my church and am almost certain they are Republicans if they vote.  However, Evangelicals are a much smaller minority among scientists compared to doctors/engineers and thus there's a big political difference reflected in that.  Income and university affiliation also come into play here, as scientists tend to earn less than doctors/engineers, on average.

[Mr. Illini]

How do other professions such as physicians, dentists, lawyers, stockbrokers, accountants, engineers, pilots, nurses, schoolteachers, etc. break down?

Unfortunately I cannot provide many concrete statistics. However, this is what I've gathered from reading around and on this site over the years:

Physicians: 50/50
Dentists: More Republican
Lawyers: Democrat
Stockbrokers: Republican
Accountants: Lean R?
Engineers: Notoriously apolitical and also depends significantly on the type of engineer
Pilots: No idea
Nurses: More Democrat
Schoolteachers: Democrat

Further...

Psychologists: Solid D
Veterinarians: Solid D
Non-profit execs: Democrat
Academia: Democrat
Construction: Republican
Trades (plumbers etc): I don't really know, lean D?
Pharma business: Republican

[RFayette]

How do other professions such as physicians, dentists, lawyers, stockbrokers, accountants, engineers, pilots, nurses, schoolteachers, etc. break down?

Unfortunately I cannot provide many concrete statistics. However, this is what I've gathered from reading around and on this site over the years:

Physicians: 50/50
Dentists: More Republican
Lawyers: Democrat
Stockbrokers: Republican
Accountants: Lean R?
Engineers: Notoriously apolitical and also depends significantly on the type of engineer
Pilots: No idea
Nurses: More Democrat
Schoolteachers: Democrat

Further...

Psychologists: Solid D
Veterinarians: Solid D
Non-profit execs: Democrat
Academia: Democrat
Construction: Republican
Trades (plumbers etc): I don't really know, lean D?
Pharma business: Republican

Maybe the union ones, but blue-collar skilled trades workers in general tend to vote pretty conservatively and have shifted well to the right in recent decades.

http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/presentations/inequality.pdf  (Search for slide with "Occupation")

[Gass3268]

I think prison guards I think it depends on unionization and the status of unions in the state. I have to imagine that union guards in Wisconsin are more Democratic than say guards were unionism isn't a big thing (Louisiana for example) or where their union hasn't been attacked (Minnesota for example).

[Intell]

http://verdantlabs.com/politics_of_professions/ My profession in 90+ democratic.

[Bismarck]

Most republican careers? Farmers who run CAFOS and oil company owners.

[Rockefeller GOP]

Just because the far left has discovered a hatred for law enforcement doesn't mean that's a GOP voting bloc.  Cops are government employees who don't make a whole lot, and I'd bet they vote Dem, especially in big cities.  They CERTAINLY vote to the left of business types.

Wall Street notoriously backs a tolerable and obvious winner (Obama '08, Clinton '96), but what's telling is their donations in an election where the outcome is uncertain.  In 2012, they gave Romney $356 million, compared to $170 million for an incumbent Obama.

[Asian Nazi]

Just because the far left has discovered a hatred for law enforcement doesn't mean that's a GOP voting bloc.  Cops are government employees who don't make a whole lot, and I'd bet they vote Dem, especially in big cities.  They CERTAINLY vote to the left of business types.

Most big city cops don't live in the cities they work in, and are usually from more conservative surrounding suburbs and rural areas.  And they're generally whiter than the communities they patrol.  It wouldn't shock me if there were a lot of individual police forces who voted Democrat, but I bet law enforcement as a whole is Republican.

[RFayette]

http://verdantlabs.com/politics_of_professions/ My profession in 90+ democratic.

The engineering stats are pretty interesting.  Chemical engineers are a tad more conservative than I thought, and unsurprisingly, software engineers are the most liberal of the bunch (given the high presence of tech in Silcion Valley/Bay Area).

[King of Kensington]

Quack medical fields:

Naturopaths = Democrat

Chiropractors =Republican

[King of Kensington]

So among the highly educated professions, well-paid MDs (especially the specialties) and dentists stand out as occupations where "income trumps degree" in determining voting patterns.  Academics and scientists regardless of income are Democratic.  Lawyers are likely overall in "degree trumps income", but they are far from an overwhelmingly Democratic group.

Income trumps degree voting probably kicks in at around $150K or so (although elite academics and scientists would still be massively Democrat).

The Democratic advantage among graduate degree holders is obviously due to the heavily female and lower paid teachers, social workers and librarians, as well as academics and scientists.

[Thunderbird is the word]

Just because the far left has discovered a hatred for law enforcement doesn't mean that's a GOP voting bloc.  Cops are government employees who don't make a whole lot, and I'd bet they vote Dem, especially in big cities.  They CERTAINLY vote to the left of business types.

Umm did you see the reaction to De Blasio from the NYPD? White cops at least tend to be very racist in general and have a conservative attitude towards society in general believing themselves to be serving the "upstanding citizens of the community." I think are most likely overwhelmingly Republican.  

[RFayette]

Just because the far left has discovered a hatred for law enforcement doesn't mean that's a GOP voting bloc.  Cops are government employees who don't make a whole lot, and I'd bet they vote Dem, especially in big cities.  They CERTAINLY vote to the left of business types.

Umm did you see the reaction to De Blasio from the NYPD? White cops at least tend to be very racist in general and have a conservative attitude towards society in general believing themselves to be serving the "upstanding citizens of the community." I think are most likely overwhelmingly Republican.  

My uncle is a cop and while not racist (I like how you just conflate conservatism and racism; very classy) he definitely has "a conservative attitude towards society in general."  He also uses "liberal" as a snarl against judges giving light sentences in California.  Nonetheless, he is a Democratic voter and supported Obama both times.  My guess is that cops are less Republican-voting than you would think based on how "conservative" they appear.

[pikachu]

Just because the far left has discovered a hatred for law enforcement doesn't mean that's a GOP voting bloc.  Cops are government employees who don't make a whole lot, and I'd bet they vote Dem, especially in big cities.  They CERTAINLY vote to the left of business types.

Umm did you see the reaction to De Blasio from the NYPD? White cops at least tend to be very racist in general and have a conservative attitude towards society in general believing themselves to be serving the "upstanding citizens of the community." I think are most likely overwhelmingly Republican.  

Considering the NYPD is minority-majority police force, I'm curious on how they vote.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

How do other professions such as physicians, dentists, lawyers, stockbrokers, accountants, engineers, pilots, nurses, schoolteachers, etc. break down?

Unfortunately I cannot provide many concrete statistics. However, this is what I've gathered from reading around and on this site over the years:

Physicians: 50/50
Dentists: More Republican
Lawyers: Democrat
Stockbrokers: Republican
Accountants: Lean R?
Engineers: Notoriously apolitical and also depends significantly on the type of engineer
Pilots: No idea
Nurses: More Democrat
Schoolteachers: Democrat

Further...

Psychologists: Solid D
Veterinarians: Solid D
Non-profit execs: Democrat
Academia: Democrat
Construction: Republican
Trades (plumbers etc): I don't really know, lean D?
Pharma business: Republican

Maybe the union ones, but blue-collar skilled trades workers in general tend to vote pretty conservatively and have shifted well to the right in recent decades.

http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/presentations/inequality.pdf  (Search for slide with "Occupation")

Eh, that's not entirely accurate. Skilled workers in the building trades, whether they are electricians or finish carpenters or operators, tend to lean towards the Democratic Party. I'd note that the "politics of profession" link only shows that "construction" workers are Republican if they're in management as contractors or foreman. On the other hand, skilled workers tend to be split or lean towards the Democratic Party, which is hardly surprising.

Basically, blue collar workers are a mixed-bag; workers in extractive sectors of the economy have decisively shifted to right. Because these industries contain such a large chunk of blue collar workers, this gives people the impression that blue collar workers as a whole have shifted towards the right. There's an element of truth to this but it's largely hyperbolic to say that the building trades or manufacturing are no longer "Democratic-leaning", they still are.

Keep in mind that most workers in the building trades have experience with Davis-Bacon wages. As a result, they're well aware of the perks and benefits associated with union representative. Because of this, skilled workers who are committed to the building trades tend to have high levels of labor militancy and gravitate towards the Democratic Party. Obviously, this varies from region to region; social cleavages in some Northern metro areas and the South really cut against class-based voting but in the Midwest or the Northwest, most workers in the building trades are pretty staunch Democrats.

[Thunderbird is the word]

Just because the far left has discovered a hatred for law enforcement doesn't mean that's a GOP voting bloc.  Cops are government employees who don't make a whole lot, and I'd bet they vote Dem, especially in big cities.  They CERTAINLY vote to the left of business types.

Umm did you see the reaction to De Blasio from the NYPD? White cops at least tend to be very racist in general and have a conservative attitude towards society in general believing themselves to be serving the "upstanding citizens of the community." I think are most likely overwhelmingly Republican.  

Considering the NYPD is minority-majority police force, I'm curious on how they vote.

I'd say the white cops are overwhelmingly Republican though might also vote Democrat at the state level for candidates that the union endorses. Black cops are probably more Democratic leaning and Hispanic officers probably somewhere in between though they probably have a slightly R tilt also since they're probably attracted to the force by the same things that white officers are.

[DC Al Fine]

I forget who wrote it (Irving Kristol maybe?), but it has been suggested that voting habits are better predicted by connection with/reliance on the state than just income. The data that Intell provided seems to suggest.

[Thunderbird is the word]

I forget who wrote it (Irving Kristol maybe?), but it has been suggested that voting habits are better predicted by connection with/reliance on the state than just income. The data that Intell provided seems to suggest.

I'd quibble with that. Maybe government employees are more likely to lean that way but I imagine that the FBI, police force and career military types tend to lean much more conservative than say freelance writers and graphic designers.

[RFayette]

I forget who wrote it (Irving Kristol maybe?), but it has been suggested that voting habits are better predicted by connection with/reliance on the state than just income. The data that Intell provided seems to suggest.

This is true and is a good explanation for the heavy tilt of scientists and academia toward the left - the only scientists that aren't Democratic-voting are petroleum geologists and geophysicists, both of which can do very well in the private sector.  Granted, some professions - like software engineers - lean Democrat even though there isn't a strong reliance on the state, but part of that can be chalked up to differences in organizational philosophy and the places where those folks reside (Bay Area as opposed to more conservative areas).

[King of Kensington]

How about among graduate/professional degree holders?

MD, DDS and MBA - mostly Republican

The rest would be majority Democrat - with several (PhD, MSW, MLS etc. being overwhelmingly so)

[Rockefeller GOP]

How about among graduate/professional degree holders?

MD, DDS and MBA - mostly Republican

The rest would be majority Democrat - with several (PhD, MSW, MLS etc. being overwhelmingly so)

Republicans really don't lose the post-grad vote by THAT much, so given that those ones you mentioned are probably overwhelmingly Democratic, I'm guessing MBA is very Republican.