For all y'all saying Wyoming - it doesn't have suburbanites or Evangelicals, which are two major constituents for the GOP nationally.
California is more representative of the national GOP than Wyoming; at least the Golden State has a non-negligible number of Evangelicals and suburban voters.
I was under the impression that there were a lot of evangelicals in Wyoming (if you ever spent time in Cheyenne you would understand why) but apparently it's only a quarter of the population? Is it because something about evangelical worship requires going to a large church or something?
survey
Northern Virginia is a better reflection of the Democratic Party than CA.
Nah. Its too rich and too Asian, not enough Blacks or Hispanics.
Not sure where you're getting the idea that NoVA is lacking in AAs or Hispanics from... here's Fairfax County demographic info from 2010 (per Wikipedia)
62.68% White
9.17% Black or African American
0.36% Native American
17.53% Asian
0.07% Pacific Islander
4.54% other races
3.65% two or more races.
15.58% Hispanics or Latinos of any race.
Fairfax is definitely wealthier than nearly any other suburban county in the US but in that sense I'd say it pretty much proves the rule. More wealth tends to mean more educated, more educated tends to mean more Democratic. Fairfax's proportion of Asians is definitely higher than the nation on average but of course non-white voters tend to be Democratic.
Right, but more income ALSO means LESS Democratic, even with Trump and the 2018 midterms. So, I think for "heart and soul" type places, you would want an area that is extremely educated but not overly wealthy.
And one would think that the average Democratic county in the US is way less White than 62%, significantly more Black than 9%, and much, much less Asian than Fairfax. It's just too unique to be a representation of the entire Democratic Party.
Maryland is a much better candidate for "heart" of the Democratic Party. Its 45.3% non-White (28% Black, 12% Hispanic, 5% Asian), 39% bachelors degree or higher (more educated than VA), and ethnic Whites in Baltimore look a lot like those in Boston or Chicago (very Catholic and working class, historically two big Democratic constituencies). Maryland also has significant majority-Black areas (PG and Baltimore City) which are the backbone of Democratic politics in much of the South. Montgomery County provides a suitable Fairfax County analogue in MD.
Maryland really checks all three boxes that are the national Democrats' core constituencies: ethnic Whites ✓, Blacks ✓, and educated suburbs ✓. NOVA is definitely lacking in 2/3 of those.
