Marin County, CA

[memphis]

Mostly white suburbs with very high incomes. Votes overwhelmingly Democratic? WTF?

[All Along The Watchtower]

Welcome to the San Francisco Bay Area.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Walter Mondale made them decide to become a reliable Democratic county.

[All Along The Watchtower]

To elaborate: Marin has a very stereotypically "liberal elitist" culture. Organic food, wine, hippies, environmentalists, art snobs. Also, in terms of its economy there aren't many large businesses. Only two employers in Marin have over 1000 employees, and both of those are hospitals/clinics.

San Francisco has always been a place for snobby, educated intellectuals from all over the world, ever since the Gold Rush merchant days. That has, of course, spilled over into the suburbs and satellite counties of SF.

[Sbane]

Mostly white suburbs with very high incomes. Votes overwhelmingly Democratic? WTF?

Dude, you can't apply the same "whites vote Republican, minorities vote Democrat" rule to the whole country. Hell, there is a good chunk of Nashville where whites vote Democrat. And in some places in the bay area, it's actually whites that are more Democrat than minorities (asians).The white vote does vary from place to place based on income and culture.

[memphis]

Mostly white suburbs with very high incomes. Votes overwhelmingly Democratic? WTF?

Dude, you can't apply the same "whites vote Republican, minorities vote Democrat" rule to the whole country. Hell, there is a good chunk of Nashville where whites vote Democrat. And in some places in the bay area, it's actually whites that are more Democrat than minorities (asians).The white vote does vary from place to place based on income and culture.

Not just white, but rich white suburbanites. And not just a little Dem lean. Marin is unlike any other county in America.

[Benj]

Mostly white suburbs with very high incomes. Votes overwhelmingly Democratic? WTF?

Dude, you can't apply the same "whites vote Republican, minorities vote Democrat" rule to the whole country. Hell, there is a good chunk of Nashville where whites vote Democrat. And in some places in the bay area, it's actually whites that are more Democrat than minorities (asians).The white vote does vary from place to place based on income and culture.

Not just white, but rich white suburbanites. And not just a little Dem lean. Marin is unlike any other county in America.

San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties are not that different. More minorities, but the whites are still super liberal. The rich whites in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties are also very liberal. Also, Montgomery County, Maryland and Arlington County and Alexandria City, Virginia. A lot of Boston suburbs are similar, too (Newton, Lexington, Brookline, etc., even ignoring Cambridge and Somerville as being "too urban"). Bellevue/Redmond/Mercer Island/etc. in Washington (and also Bainbridge Island and Vashon Island in the other direction). Westchester County, NY, even ignoring the minority areas. Other isolated NYC suburbs like Nyack or Tenafly.

[ReelectCarterMondale!]

This is the Bay Area. Basically all the suburbs within ten miles of the shoreline have Dem PVIs of 20+. Not only that, these areas are ridiculously LIBERAL.

These are people who - while white, sophisticated, rich suburbanites - smoke pot at afternoon tea, go to a gyrotonics class and have their own forest of bonsai plants. Think the politics and worldview of the cast of a Woody Allen movie superimposed on the characters of Weeds.

[memphis]

Mostly white suburbs with very high incomes. Votes overwhelmingly Democratic? WTF?

Dude, you can't apply the same "whites vote Republican, minorities vote Democrat" rule to the whole country. Hell, there is a good chunk of Nashville where whites vote Democrat. And in some places in the bay area, it's actually whites that are more Democrat than minorities (asians).The white vote does vary from place to place based on income and culture.

Not just white, but rich white suburbanites. And not just a little Dem lean. Marin is unlike any other county in America.

San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties are not that different. More minorities, but the whites are still super liberal. The rich whites in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties are also very liberal. Also, Montgomery County, Maryland and Arlington County and Alexandria City, Virginia. A lot of Boston suburbs are similar, too (Newton, Lexington, Brookline, etc., even ignoring Cambridge and Somerville as being "too urban"). Bellevue/Redmond/Mercer Island/etc. in Washington (and also Bainbridge Island and Vashon Island in the other direction). Westchester County, NY, even ignoring the minority areas. Other isolated NYC suburbs like Nyack or Tenafly.

Marin is 73 % non-Hispanic white and 74% Obama.
In comparison:
San Mateo is 42% non-Hispanic white and 72% Obama
Santa Clara is 35% non-Hispanic white and 70% Obama
Montgomery is 49% non-Hispanic white and 71% Obama
Alexandria is 53% non-Hispanic white and 71% Obama
Arlington in 64% non-Hispanic white and 69% Obama
Westchester is 57% non-Hispanic white and 60% Obama
I don't have returns available for individual towns in Washington State or Massachusetts.
Middlesex, MA is 77% white and 63% Obama
King, WA is 64% white and 69% Obama
Marin is clearly in a league of it's own for white people voting Democratic. Maybe if you want to compare it to Western MA, but they're not rich or suburban

[Benj]

Newton, MA is 80% white, 75% Obama (2008, though 2012 is likely similar)
Brookline is 73% white, 81% Obama
Lexington is 86% white, 72% Obama

Also:
Arlington, MA is 83% white, 72% Obama
Belmont is 81% white, 69% Obama
Watertown is 81% white, 71% Obama
Lincoln is 82% white, 75% Obama
Concord is 87% white, 70% Obama

Together, those towns have 298,970 residents (more than the population of Marin County) and are 79% non-Hispanic white and 74% Obama. They form a contiguous set of wealthy suburbs west of Boston that don't show up on county maps merely because they're balanced by less liberal (and less wealthy) suburbs to the north and south of Boston (Brookline is also in Norfolk County, while the rest are in Middlesex County).

In general, you're drawing conclusions based on county lines. If you looked the heavily white parts of San Mateo or Santa Clara, they're basically the same as Marin. It just so happens that they also have heavily minority areas that are also about 70% Obama, the same as the white areas. Similar for some of the other counties I listed. In others, like Westchester, some of the wealthiest towns (Scarsdale) are around 70% Obama, but other areas are more marginal.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Mostly white suburbs with very high incomes. Votes overwhelmingly Democratic? WTF?

Have you been there?  It's "treehugger country!"

[Sbane]

Mostly white suburbs with very high incomes. Votes overwhelmingly Democratic? WTF?

Dude, you can't apply the same "whites vote Republican, minorities vote Democrat" rule to the whole country. Hell, there is a good chunk of Nashville where whites vote Democrat. And in some places in the bay area, it's actually whites that are more Democrat than minorities (asians).The white vote does vary from place to place based on income and culture.

Not just white, but rich white suburbanites. And not just a little Dem lean. Marin is unlike any other county in America.

San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties are not that different. More minorities, but the whites are still super liberal. The rich whites in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties are also very liberal. Also, Montgomery County, Maryland and Arlington County and Alexandria City, Virginia. A lot of Boston suburbs are similar, too (Newton, Lexington, Brookline, etc., even ignoring Cambridge and Somerville as being "too urban"). Bellevue/Redmond/Mercer Island/etc. in Washington (and also Bainbridge Island and Vashon Island in the other direction). Westchester County, NY, even ignoring the minority areas. Other isolated NYC suburbs like Nyack or Tenafly.

Marin is 73 % non-Hispanic white and 74% Obama.
In comparison:
San Mateo is 42% non-Hispanic white and 72% Obama
Santa Clara is 35% non-Hispanic white and 70% Obama

You are assuming that minorities in San Mateo and Santa Clara county vote way more democrat than whites but that is a not a wise assumption to make. It's probably more like minorities vote 75% Obama and whites vote 68% Obama. I agree Marin is even more Democratic and even more homogeneously rich, but it's right across the bridge from SF and areas like the Oakland and Berkeley hills are just as rich and just as Democratic. Bit more of a moderate influence down in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

BTW, it's hardly the only area with rich white Democrats in the bay area. Piedmont has a ton of them.

[Personperson]

I'm from Alameda County, and I'd have to agree that it's similar to a lot of other counties in the bay area. Plenty of whites vote Democrat, more then Asians at times. Nothing that special, there are probably counties around other urban centers that are mainly white and vote Democratic. Just my 2 cents. (First post!)

[Marokai Backbeat]

I'm from Alameda County, and I'd have to agree that it's similar to a lot of other counties in the bay area. Plenty of whites vote Democrat, more then Asians at times. Nothing that special, there are probably counties around other urban centers that are mainly white and vote Democratic. Just my 2 cents. (First post!)

Welcome to the forum. Buckle up.

[Psychic Octopus]

I'm from Alameda County, and I'd have to agree that it's similar to a lot of other counties in the bay area. Plenty of whites vote Democrat, more then Asians at times. Nothing that special, there are probably counties around other urban centers that are mainly white and vote Democratic. Just my 2 cents. (First post!)

Welcome to the forum. Buckle up.

Don't scare our new posters, Marokai...

This is actually a friend of mine from real life. So play nice, guys...

[Badger]

I'm from Alameda County, and I'd have to agree that it's similar to a lot of other counties in the bay area. Plenty of whites vote Democrat, more then Asians at times. Nothing that special, there are probably counties around other urban centers that are mainly white and vote Democratic. Just my 2 cents. (First post!)

First off, welcome to the forum!

Secondly, I think what the OP meant was Marin is unique as there are few predominantly white areas outside of major urban centers that are sp wealthy as Marin but so consistantly Democratic. I can't think of any other comperable counties, but admittedly haven't thought hard about it either.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

I find it embarrassing that threads like these are still posted on the Atlas. Wealthy, educated liberal professionals who live in cosmopolitan spheres are the bedrock that the Democratic Party sits on. While they aren't as electorally important as poors, they control the strings of power.This has been the case for over a decade. Marin County stands out only because the county lines are drawn in a way that creates homogenous community. As mentioned in the thread, the Oakland and Berkeley hills are even  more Democratic (~90% Obama). Comparable localities include: Cleveland Heights, St. Louis Park, Bainbridge Island, Evanston, Newton, Tenafly, hilly parts of west LA that include Beverly Hills etc. Nearly every major urban area includes at least a few precincts that display similar behavior.

It's important to note that Marin County's voting behavior is amplified by the bay area's cultural opposition to anything remotely related to the GOP at this point; where even non-descript, ultra-wealthy, ultra-white suburban developments voted ~60% for Obama. I imagine a similar community with similar demographics populated by, say, wealthy educated would be more marginal.

edit: I spend too much time sifting through precinct results...