Why are US tourism areas leaning Dem?

[Person Man]

from my experience, tourist areas seem to reflect where they get their most people from. For example the beaches of Southwest Florida seem to attract people from the same place that the Panhandle draws from. However nice beaches are expensive and draw the more international the crowd. This is where you get a lot of multicultural people, relatively disadvantaged, even if they are modestly wealthy by most standards, people and people from big cities. The Huffington Post crowd. The more regional and less expensive places tend to draw people from rural and white places where everyone makes about the same amount of money. The Trace Atkins and Fox News crowd.

[Person Man]

from my experience, tourist areas seem to reflect where they get their most people from. For example the beaches of Southwest Florida seem to attract people from the same place that the Panhandle draws from. However nice beaches are expensive and draw the more international the crowd. This is where you get a lot of multicultural people, relatively disadvantaged, even if they are modestly wealthy by most standards, people and people from big cities. The Huffington Post crowd. The more regional and less expensive places tend to draw people from rural and white places where everyone makes about the same amount of money. The Trace Atkins and Fox News crowd.

This could explain in my state why Galveston is Republican leaning, and yet the beaches of South Padre Island are Democratic leaning. You're pretty right about that.

However there is a strong GOP lean on historical tourist spots.

When it comes to who is attracted to which tourist destination, historical don't matter. What matters is how diverse a place is in terms of class and race.

If its a place that generally attracts families with young kids from a couple hundred miles away to stay in 1-star and 2-star motels and motor inns from places where there is very little poverty but six figures is considered "rich" and anyone who is half-Italian is considered "ethnic", then yeah. That place will be 55%, if not 65% Republican.

Here's a picture of such a place




On the other hand, if the place generally attracts people under 35 from places across the world where the slums are right next door to $10 million dollar penthouses to either come camp right out on the beach or to stay in  4, 5 and 6 star hotels, any Republican who can get more than 40% of the vote is either the next Ronald Reagan or the biggest RINO ever.

Here's a picture of such a place

[Person Man]

Tourism relies on low-skilled service-sector workers, many of whom are minorities, and most of whom earn a small amount of income.  Both factors lead to tourist-y areas to vote Democratic. 

So places that are more mom and pop, its just an owner and a handful of employees in a business so small the dozen or so employees are directly affected by the welfare of the employer. Hence, everyone shares eachother's interests. In bigger and more expensive places, a place could have hundreds, if not thousands of employees. Some of the owners will be less concerned about the bottom line and more concerned about being a good global citizen. Many of the employees will think they can do better than what their employers are willing to offer on their own without hurting the bottom line.

[Person Man]

Tourism relies on low-skilled service-sector workers, many of whom are minorities, and most of whom earn a small amount of income.  Both factors lead to tourist-y areas to vote Democratic. 

So places that are more mom and pop, its just an owner and a handful of employees in a business so small the dozen or so employees are directly affected by the welfare of the employer. Hence, everyone shares eachother's interests. In bigger and more expensive places, a place could have hundreds, if not thousands of employees. Some of the owners will be less concerned about the bottom line and more concerned about being a good global citizen. Many of the employees will think they can do better than what their employers are willing to offer on their own without hurting the bottom line.

These are both very true. I've worked at bigger companies where workers have been given perks and bonuses to stay when competition has moved in. I've also worked at places where we didn't get paid because the owner had to pay bills and go Christmas shopping.

I knew guys like that and was kind of that owner when I ran things for my dad during the Great Recession. At first it was just to help him through his divorce and legal problems while I looked for a job and took the bar (you don't get too many job offers to do law as an eccentric 23 year old Democrat in Wyoming when the Unemployment rate in 10%), but it turned into something bigger and I  had to give up on the bar to totally run things and when I did all could with the accounts being drained by his ex around the time  I came down, I decided to go back west to do something that people actually needed doing. When you are kind of at that level of a middle class amateur entrapaneur, you aren't that removed from your employees. I don't if that experience was supposed to make me more Republican, but certain people learn different things from their lives at different times, I guess.