did the entertainment industry ever lean GOP?

[freepcrusher]

looking at old election results and congressional district maps, I found that the old CA 16 of the 40s and 50s took in the bulk of where (I would assume) the entertainment industry lived. At the time it was considered a republican stronghold, taking in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Bel Air, maybe Encino.

[wan]

Maybe when Ronald Reagan was President.

[justfollowingtheelections]

There are two reasons why the entertainment industry is so anti-Republican (from what I understand at least):

- McCarthyism
- Nixonian "law and order" opposition to the '60s counterculture movements

[soniquemd21921]

There were quite a few Republicans in Hollywood then: Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Capra, Shirley Temple, Robert Taylor, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck, Bing Crosby, George Murphy (later became a U.S. senator from California), Fred Astaire, Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray, Jane Wyman, etc.

Of course, Reagan was a Democrat back then.

[memphis]

Always been run by Jews

[Indy Texas]

There are two reasons why the entertainment industry is so anti-Republican (from what I understand at least):

- McCarthyism
- Nixonian "law and order" opposition to the '60s counterculture movements

I'd add two things:

(1) It's heavily unionized

(2) People care less about being heavily taxed and regulated when they sell a unique good or service and can pass the costs of it on to the consumer. Oprah doesn't care if she has to give all her employees insurance coverage. B*tch, she's Oprah! She'll just charge more for her books and magazines and such. It's the polar opposite of Republican-leaning industries like natural resource extraction, which are basically fully commoditized and simply aim to be as cheap and efficient as possible.

[Liberalrocks]

The GOP of years back 50's/60's was vastly different then what it is today, so perhaps some in the entertainment could have been GOP....In "that" GOP, in another era. Their GOP is sadly long gone and not what it is today.

[tallguy23]

Some of the top executives might lean Republican but the vast majority of people are very liberal. Many people who work in the entertainment industry are Jewish or LGBT, both of which are strongly Democratic voters. Not to mention it's a heavily unionized industry with many of the successful people knowing what it's like to be poor. Talk to any actor/writer/director who struggled before they made it........they ain't voting GOP.

[Benj]

In addition to the points already cited, I think we can add that the entertainment industry has often been heavily dependent on government subsidies and regulation, in particular through intellectual property law but also in the form of tax subsidies. While in the 1950s being pro-government didn't necessarily mean being Republican, it certainly has for the past three decades.

[opebo]

Very well might have in, say, the late 1800s.

[Dr. Cynic]

Hollywood at one time was actually conservative country. Liberals really didn't gain overt political "control" until around about JFK\Vietnam War.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I have a copy of Kerwin Swint's book Mudslingers, and in it he describes Hollywood's opposition to Upton Sinclair's candidacy for California governor in 1934.  He says thay actors, writers, and producers always leaned liberal (Democrat, Socialist, Communist, etc.), but the producers leaned Republican.  However, I know there was a higher concentration of Republican actors/actresses at that time.  I realize he was specifically talking about the 1930s, but I'm sure it continued that was for a few decades (at least until the 60s.)

[Sopranos Republican]

The GOP of years back 50's/60's was vastly different then what it is today, so perhaps some in the entertainment could have been GOP....In "that" GOP, in another era. Their GOP is sadly long gone and not what it is today.

Yeah but the GOP, has never really been the pro-union party. I think one reason Hollywood is so Democratic, is because I think a lot of movie stars feel guilty that they have so much more money than most, and they want to pay more in taxes, to try to help those who don't have as much.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

There were quite a few Republicans in Hollywood then: Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Capra, Shirley Temple, Robert Taylor, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck, Bing Crosby, George Murphy (later became a U.S. senator from California), Fred Astaire, Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray, Jane Wyman, etc.

Of course, Reagan was a Democrat back then.

Don't forget Ginger Rogers and Jane Russell.

The GOP of years back 50's/60's was vastly different then what it is today, so perhaps some in the entertainment could have been GOP....In "that" GOP, in another era. Their GOP is sadly long gone and not what it is today.

I can't help but agree, at least in part.

[bedstuy]

An actor shot Abe Lincoln.  The entertainment industry and the GOP really just got off on the wrong foot.