Westchester vs. Long Island

[King of Kensington]

The obvious answer to the question to why Westchester votes more Democratic is that it has a lower percentage of NHWs than Nassau/Suffolk.  But I'm wondering if there's more to it than that.  Are Westchester whites significantly more liberal than Long Island whites?  Some points to think about:

- The ethnic composition of the white population of both Westchester and Long Island seems pretty similar, both are heavily Italian American and Jewish and I don't think the proportions of either group are that different between the two areas.  Westchester though is perceived as more old money "WASP" (and it probably is a bit more) - as it developed largely as a railroad suburb while Long Island is mostly 50s/60s suburbia - but it's not that high.  So I don't think the ethnic composition of the white population provides much of an explanation.

- Westchester has a higher percentage of college and graduate degrees overall and when one looks at the white population alone it would be an ever big difference.  In the New York area, it seems that college-educated, professional whites are more liberal than the non college-educated white working class/lower middle class.  This likely breaks down at VERY high levels of income, which are of course found both in both Westchester and Long Island.

- Westchester has the "artsy" river towns (i.e. Hastings on Hudson, Tarrytown) which likely attracts a more liberal demographic than tract suburbia.  I suppose Long Island has the Hamptons but that attracts wealth of all sorts (from tycoons to the Hollywood types - also how many of these people actually have their primary residences there?).

- Westchester wealth seems to come more from the "traditional path" (i.e. law firm partners, Wall St. etc.) while Long Island Island likely has more non-traditional sources of wealth (more self-made/entrepreneurial). 

[King of Kensington]

Had a look at the Jewish and Italian American populations, using the American Factfinder and the 2011 Jewish population study for New York.  A bit of a difference, but nothing dramatic.

Jewish population:

Nassau  230,000 (17%)
Suffolk  86,000 (6%)
Long Island  316,000 (11%)

Westchester  136,000 (14%)

Italian American population:

Nassau  290,000 (22%)
Suffolk  411,000 (27%)
Long Island  700,000 (25%)

Westchester  178,000 (19%)

So Long Island Jews outnumber Westchester Jews by about 2-1, Long Island Italians outnumber Westchester Italians by about 4-1.  Nassau however is a bit more Jewish as a percentage of the population than Westchester though (and Suffolk is far less than either)

Westchester Jews are also almost certainly more liberal (i.e. more your standard "liberal elites" and members of the Reform movement) than their Long Island counterparts.

[King of Kensington]

It should be noted that, IIRC, Yonkers voted slightly to the right of Westchester County in 2008.

Working class Italians and Irish presumably.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Not all Orthodox are Hasidim. 

[King of Kensington]

Yes, Westchester is much more starkly divided in terms of socioeconomics (rich and poor) than Long Island which has a much bigger middle, with a lot of high income and few low income.  Hence the median household and family incomes are higher on LI than Westchester, but Westchester has a higher per capita income. 

The NHW population in both Nassau and Westchester counties are both roughly 1/3 Italian, 1/4 Jewish.  

[King of Kensington]

The Bronx filled up before Queens, and the spillover into Westchester occurred much sooner than into Nassau.

That's a very good point.  Queens is a much larger area and even as late as the 1940s a lot of the borough wasn't yet built up yet.   During the postwar years eastern Queens grew a lot and served as a "suburb in the city."