Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Prime Minister of Yemen’s Houthi Government Killed in Israeli Strike

2 days ago

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Law Redrawing Congressional Maps

3 days ago

US Air Force will Offer Military Funeral Honors to Slain Capitol Rioter

3 days ago

US Republican Senator Joni Ernst Will Not Run for Re-Election, CBS News Reports

3 days ago

Wall Street Falls as Dell, Nvidia Drive Tech Losses

3 days ago

US Denies Visas to Palestinian Officials Ahead of UN General Assembly

3 days ago

Minneapolis Children Revealed Courage, Absorbed Fear During Church Shooting

3 days ago

Ford Recalls Nearly 500,000 Vehicles Over Brake Fluid Leak

4 days ago

Fresno-Bound Passenger Says Delta Attendant Slapped Him, Seeks $20M

4 days ago
'No Way Out': Demographics Drive GOP Nosedive on West Coast
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
February 26, 2020

Share

BEND, Ore. — In the early 1990s, the population of Bend was around 25,000 and leaned Republican. A lumber mill operated along the banks of the Deschutes River in Oregon’s high-desert country.

The transformation shows how demographic shifts and the GOP’s tack further to the right are helping push the party into a nosedive along the West Coast.
Today, the lumber mill is an REI outdoor recreation store. The population has quadrupled. And for the first time in memory, the number of registered Democrats in Deschutes County recently eclipsed the number of Republicans.
The transformation shows how demographic shifts and the GOP’s tack further to the right are helping push the party into a nosedive along the West Coast.
The last Republican presidential candidate that California went for was George H.W. Bush. For both Oregon and Washington, it was Ronald Reagan. Now, Republicans are struggling to hold seats in Congress, statehouses and city councils up and down the coast.
California, Washington and Oregon will hold their presidential primaries on March 3, March 10 and May 19 respectively, and which Democratic candidates they favor will become clear. But this much is certain: In November, none of the three states is apt to go for President Donald Trump, and there is little hope Republicans will claw back much ground in other contests.

‘There Is No Way Out’

Political districts have flipped in population centers, from San Diego in the south to Seattle in the north.
“There is no way out,” Chris Vance, a former Washington state Republican Party chairman and legislator, said in a telephone interview.
In San Diego, by the U.S.-Mexico border, each of the nine city council districts now has more registered Democrats than registered Republicans, including one that until recently leaned strongly Republican.
In 1980, Orange County, near Los Angeles, was 80% white and a GOP stronghold. Today, Orange County is mostly Hispanic and Asian, with many displeased by Republicans’ hard stance on immigration. In 2018, voters there dealt a stunning defeat to a two-term GOP congresswoman.
The California GOP wound up losing six other U.S. House seats that year, leading a former Republican leader in the state to declare: “The California Republican Party isn’t salvageable at this time.”
Democrats also hold the California governor’s office, both U.S. Senate seats and almost complete control of the Legislature.

Photo of Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan and George H.W. Bush
FILE – In this Nov. 3, 1980 file photo, former President Gerald Ford, from left, lends his support to Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan and his running mate George H.W. Bush in Peoria, Ill. The last Republican presidential candidate that California went for was George H.W. Bush. For both Oregon and Washington it was Ronald Reagan. Now, Republicans are struggling to hold seats in Congress, statehouses and city councils. (AP Photo, File)

The GOP Has Lost All the Statehouse Seats It Once Held in Seattle’s Eastern Suburbs

In Seattle, tens of thousands of tech employees have flooded into the city and its suburbs, hired by Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Facebook. The influx of highly educated workers over the past decade helped fuel a population boom that made many communities much more diverse and affluent, and turned them away from the GOP and toward Democrats.

“This was the party of nerdy, wonky, tweedy capitalists who cared about economic growth. Now it is the party of populists: alt-right, let’s keep the immigrants out, truck- and rifle-populists. That works in Mississippi and Arkansas and stuff, but it does not work in the Seattle area.” — Chris Vance, a former Washington state Republican Party chairman and legislator
The result: The GOP has lost all the statehouse seats it once held in Seattle’s eastern suburbs.
Vance blames the area’s exodus of college-educated white voters, particularly women, from the GOP on the party’s turn toward more fundamentalist values under Trump. Vance himself abandoned the party in 2017 after an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate as the Republican candidate.
“This was the party of nerdy, wonky, tweedy capitalists who cared about economic growth. Now it is the party of populists: alt-right, let’s keep the immigrants out, truck- and rifle-populists,” Vance said. “That works in Mississippi and Arkansas and stuff, but it does not work in the Seattle area.”
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, among a line of Democratic governors dating back to 1985, faces no significant GOP challenge as he seeks a third term in November. Both of Washington’s U.S. senators are Democrats, and seven of its 10 U.S. House members belong to the party. Democrats hope to expand their majorities in the Legislature, where they hold a 28-21 edge in the Senate and a 57-41 advantage in the House.
And Democrats in Oregon — who already hold the governorship, both U.S. Senate seats and four of five U.S. House seats — wield supermajorities in the Legislature, and are gunning for more seats.
One of them is the House seat representing Bend, currently held by moderate Republican Rep. Cheri Helt. Challenging her is Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Jason Kropf, whose treasurer is a veteran political fundraiser.

Republican Lawmakers in Oregon Are Fed up With Democratic Dominance

After the demise of the timber industry, Bend became a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts and beer lovers. The town of roughly 100,000 is arrayed along a scenic river and below the Cascade Range, with one of the highest number of breweries per capita in America.
“Bend is full of beautiful, very fit, beer-swilling jocks,” said James Foster, professor emeritus of political science at Oregon State University-Cascades in Bend.
The shifting demographic has made Bend, and Deschutes County, “much more moderate” than in the past, he said.
In 2018, about 4,100 more people moved to the county than moved out, with two-thirds arriving from 11 California counties — 10 of which are predominantly Democratic — and from the liberal bastions of Seattle and Portland, according to a new study by the Oregon Employment Department.
The growth of registered Democrats “could be a reflection of the political party affiliation of the new residents, rather than longtime locals shifting their party affiliation,” said economist Damon Runberg, who prepared the study.
Republican lawmakers in Oregon are so fed up with Democratic dominance that they began a boycott of the Legislature this week in an attempt to kill a bill aimed at stemming global warming. Helt bucked the move by remaining in the capitol.
Some Republicans also formed a group, Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho. It is collecting signatures to make rural Oregon counties part of conservative Idaho.
“I understand they’re looking at Idaho fondly,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little said on Fox News last week. “But there’s a lot of governmental hurdles and legal hurdles that would have to be jumped before they could ever do that.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to 18,748 Acres in Sierra National Forest

DON'T MISS

US Judge Blocks Deportations of Unaccompanied Migrant Children to Guatemala

DON'T MISS

Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet

DON'T MISS

Thousands in Australia March Against Immigration, Government Condemns Rally

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He Will Order Voter ID Requirement for Every Vote

DON'T MISS

Greta Thunberg Joins Flotilla Heading for Gaza With Aid

DON'T MISS

Chicago Mayor Says Police Will Not Aid Federal Troops or Agents

DON'T MISS

Post-War Gaza Plan Sees Relocation of Population, ‘Digital Token’ for Palestinian Land: Washington Post

DON'T MISS

Labor Day Quiz: Do You Know What a Knocker-Upper Is?

DON'T MISS

Bulldogs Check All the Boxes in Runaway Win Over Georgia Southern

UP NEXT

Trump Says He Will Order Voter ID Requirement for Every Vote

UP NEXT

Chicago Mayor Says Police Will Not Aid Federal Troops or Agents

UP NEXT

Judge Blocks Pillar of Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign

UP NEXT

Classic Cars Will Still Need a Smog Test in California After Lawmakers Reject Jay Leno Bill

UP NEXT

Dollar Trades Lower With Fed Cut In View, On Course For Monthly Drop

UP NEXT

New $250 Visa Fee Risks Deepening US Travel Slump

UP NEXT

California Schools Reverse Truancy Trends. Improving Reading Scores Could Be Next

UP NEXT

High-Speed Rail Hits a New Snag as Lawmakers Reject Proposal to Expedite Construction

UP NEXT

Lawsuit Links CA Teen’s Suicide To Artificial Intelligence

UP NEXT

Fresno County Needs Election Workers for November Redistricting Vote. Apply Now

Thousands in Australia March Against Immigration, Government Condemns Rally

16 hours ago

Trump Says He Will Order Voter ID Requirement for Every Vote

16 hours ago

Greta Thunberg Joins Flotilla Heading for Gaza With Aid

16 hours ago

Chicago Mayor Says Police Will Not Aid Federal Troops or Agents

16 hours ago

Post-War Gaza Plan Sees Relocation of Population, ‘Digital Token’ for Palestinian Land: Washington Post

16 hours ago

Labor Day Quiz: Do You Know What a Knocker-Upper Is?

17 hours ago

Bulldogs Check All the Boxes in Runaway Win Over Georgia Southern

1 day ago

Judge Blocks Pillar of Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign

2 days ago

Classic Cars Will Still Need a Smog Test in California After Lawmakers Reject Jay Leno Bill

2 days ago

Visalia Driver Arrested for DUI After Multiple Crashes and Pedestrian Injured

2 days ago

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to 18,748 Acres in Sierra National Forest

A lightning-sparked wildfire, the Garnet Fire, in the Sierra National Forest has burned 18,748 acres in Fresno County and remains at 8% cont...

16 hours ago

Photo: USDA - Forest Service Tanker 40 at Fresno Air Attack Base. The Fresno County Garnet Fire in the Sierra National Forest has burned 18,748 acres and is 8% contained as crews make progress on containment lines while bracing for possible thunderstorms early this week. (Sam Wu/USFS)
16 hours ago

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to 18,748 Acres in Sierra National Forest

U.S. flag and Judge gavel are seen in this illustration taken, August 6, 2024. (Reuters File)
16 hours ago

US Judge Blocks Deportations of Unaccompanied Migrant Children to Guatemala

Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, August 31, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
16 hours ago

Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet

Demonstrators hold a banner during the 'March for Australia' anti-immigration rally, in Sydney, Australia, August 31, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
16 hours ago

Thousands in Australia March Against Immigration, Government Condemns Rally

President Donald Trump walks on the grounds of the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, U.S., August 30, 2025. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
16 hours ago

Trump Says He Will Order Voter ID Requirement for Every Vote

Activists Yasemin Acar, Greta Thunberg and Thiago Avila attend a press conference before the departure of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian expedition to Gaza, at the port of Barcelona, Spain August 31, 2025. (Reuters/Eva Manez)
16 hours ago

Greta Thunberg Joins Flotilla Heading for Gaza With Aid

National Guard troops wear gas masks during protests against federal immigration sweeps, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
16 hours ago

Chicago Mayor Says Police Will Not Aid Federal Troops or Agents

A view of tents sheltering Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military offensive, in Gaza City, August 23, 2025. (Reuters File)
16 hours ago

Post-War Gaza Plan Sees Relocation of Population, ‘Digital Token’ for Palestinian Land: Washington Post

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend