Clark County, Nevada

[Alcon]

Here's a breakdown of precinct results for Clark County, Nevada by township (and Census-Designated Place where available):



I was surprise to find out that Las Vegas isn't really what makes Clark County Democratic and, by extension, Nevada a battleground state.  Instead, it's unincorporated Clark County.  Las Vegas certainly helps, as does Las  Vegas itself, though.

Unincorporated areas being fairly Democratic is also a surprising to me considering that some areas in the middle of nowhere (Moapa Town, Moapa Valley) that are heavily Republican.

(Note that I messed up - there is also Bunkerville CDP, which voted 257 Bush, 53 Kerry, 2 NOTC, 1 Nader, and was accidentally included under Unincorporated.)

I know North Las Vegas is slightly wealthier, but also more diverse than, Las Vegas.  But why is unincorporated Clark County so Democratic?  I assumed those would be the fast-growing areas on the outskirts of town, and be the most Republican areas.  Henderson, another fast-growing area, is actually pretty moderate, too.

Also, w hy are some rural towns relatively moderate (Laughlin and Searchlight) while others are very conservative (Bunkerville, Moapa Town and Valley)?

Anyone with a good knowledge of the Las Vegas area that can explain, or at least anyone who can guess?

[Smash255]

Just a guess on my part, Vegas's population comes from all over the country I believe, and you probably have quite a bit from the mid-atlantic & northeastern suburbs (Philly, NYC, D.C & Boston burbs) so that could help explain why suburban Las Vegas is as moderate as it is, because you potentially have a decent portion of the population that has relocated there from Democratic areas

[Alcon]

Just a guess on my part, Vegas's population comes from all over the country I believe, and you probably have quite a bit from the mid-atlantic & northeastern suburbs (Philly, NYC, D.C & Boston burbs) so that could help explain why suburban Las Vegas is as moderate as it is, because you potentially have a decent portion of the population that has relocated there from Democratic areas

Well, the entirety of Las Vegas is relatively new.  The outer parts, I'd assume, would less likely to have working-class people like casino employees.

Maybe I'm wrong about that.

[minionofmidas]

Link not showing up.
North Vegas wealthy? That's a new one. Must be a recent shift - used to be a dump back in the good ole days before people came to Vegas to live.
Moapa Valley is an Indian Reservation.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

...and Searchlight is an old mining town. Harry Reid is from there, btw

[Colin]

Link not showing up.
North Vegas wealthy? That's a new one. Must be a recent shift - used to be a dump back in the good ole days before people came to Vegas to live.
Moapa Valley is an Indian Reservation.

Yes I thought so. Having gone through North Las Vegas a few times it didn't seem a wealth place to me, more like your typical working class inner suburb. I was suprised by the amount of Bush support in Las Vegas proper. I thought the city was more Democratic than that, at least 58% Kerry or something like that.

[Alcon]

Link not showing up.
North Vegas wealthy? That's a new one. Must be a recent shift - used to be a dump back in the good ole days before people came to Vegas to live.
Moapa Valley is an Indian Reservation.

I said wealthier, not wealthy, but in retrospect, it's not that much different.  Las Vegas has a lower median household income but a higher per capita income.

Moapa Valley, according to Census records, is 1.2% American Indian, so if it's a reservation, that's not the voting block that makes it so conservative.

...and Searchlight is an old mining town. Harry Reid is from there, btw

Yes, I know quite a bit about Searchlight, but the mines have all been spent.  What keeps it moderate?

[Cashcow]

Yes, I know quite a bit about Searchlight, but the mines have all been spent.  What keeps it moderate?

The median income for a household in the CDP is $24,407, and the median income for a family is $29,323. Males have a median income of $26,563 versus $27,868 for females. The per capita income for the CDP is $19,606.

Fairly lower-class, but the lower-classes voting for Republicans appears to be fairly common in the West and South these days.

[jimrtex]

Link not showing up.
Moapa Valley is an Indian Reservation.

The gringo towns are NE of the Rez.

[jimrtex]

Do you have a map of the voting precincts?

There are 6 large cities or census designated places (CDP) in the Las Vegas area:

Las Vegas 478K 24%H 10%B Median Family Income 50K
Besides the core area, Las Vegas extends to the west and northwest.

North Las Vegas 115K 38%H 19%B MFI 46K
North Las Vegas is somewhat towards the NE of Las Vegas.

To the south and east of Las Vegas are 3 large CDP which should provide the overwhelming share of the "unincorporated Clark County vote"

Spring Valley 117K 14%H 6%B MFI 55K
Spring Valley is to the southwest and appears to be the wealthier area.

Paradise 186K 23%H 6%B MFI 47K
Paradise is south and southeast of Las Vegas (in between Henderson and Las Vegas).  If you look at the family income breakdown for most of the cities, it appear that there is a bulge in the $50K+ area, but this is due to the census bureau switching to $10K brackets, from $5K brackets below $50K.  But in Paradise, even this bulge does not really show up, indicating a population made up of service workers in Las Vegas.  Also the highest family size.

Sunrise Manor 156K 26%H 13%B MFI 44K
To the east of Las Vegas, south of North Las Vegas.  The poorest area, slightly more minority than Las Vegas.

I would expect that Sunrise Manor and Paradise to be a bit more Democratic than Las Vegas, while Spring Valley to be to the GOP side.

Henderson 175K 11% 4%B MFI 61K
Fast growing city to the SE of Las Vegas (has passed Reno to become 2nd largest in state).

Note: population growth in the 3 unincorporated CDPs appears to be slower than the incorporated cities.  Some of them didn't even double in population between 1990 and 2000.

[minionofmidas]

Yeah, checked back and the rez is called Moapa River. It's 80% Native American but got only about 200 people, and is no doubt included with unincorporated here.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Yes, I know quite a bit about Searchlight, but the mines have all been spent.  What keeps it moderate?

Presumably enough people stayed over from it's mining days to keep it's voting patterns moderate.

[jimrtex]

I didn't find any precinct maps, but there are maps for the various districts, and results by precinct for the various races.

Political Maps

2004 Results

There are roughly 25 State Assembly districts in Clark County, so you could probably come up with a general location of the "County" precincts and how they voted for President.