Day 47: Washington

[bgwah]

I was looking forward to Washington but I really don't know what to say.

As Alcon said, Washington would still have voted for Kerry without Seattle, so HAH.

There's also the ISLAND EFFECT. Almost all the island areas are very liberal, often breaking 70% for Kerry, despite being mostly white and rural/small town. The military presense around Oak Harbor probably tilts Island County  to the dark side, though.

Washington is not very religious compared to other states which probably helps the Democrats. Eastern Washington is pretty conservative, there are a few Democratic areas (Indian reservations, college towns, Spokane, and several mostly-hispanic cities, as well as the random white city that votes Democrat).

Outside of the Tri-Cities in south central Washington (all three of which broke 60% for Bush), most of the larger cities voted solidly Kerry. Seattle at 81%, Tacoma at 62%, Bellingham at 69%, Olympia at 68%, Bellevue at 57%, and Everett at 59%. Spokane voted 51% Kerry, Bremerton 55%, and Vancouver 53%. Yakima voted for Bush.

Some rural areas in Western Washington vote Democrat, but in the East they are almost exclusively Republican.

[bgwah]

Why are Yakima and the tri cities so Republican?

Social conservativism.  It's an agricultural and blue-collar manufacturing area with few unions.

Also, what's the matter with the high Hispanic population in & around Yakima, including on the Yakama Rez? That's one I've long been wondering about.

Farm workers.

And do they vote?

I don't know. Mostly hispanic cities in Yakima county voted 60-75% Democrat. However, Pasco (a tri city) is like 62% hispanic and over 60% Bush.