Why is California so Catholic unlike Texas or Florida?

[thebeloitmoderate]

The 3 states all colonized by Spain, but California is the one with the most colonial Spanish influence, and why is this state more Catholic though?

[Skill and Chance]

TX and FL have substantial culturally Southern territory.  CA was admitted as free state on day 1, so it does not have any of this history.  This answer seems obvious to me. 

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

TX and FL have substantial culturally Southern territory.  CA was admitted as free state on day 1, so it does not have any of this history.  This answer seems obvious to me. 

"I'm Cuban, Italian, and Irish, and yet somehow I ended up Southern Baptist."--Ted Cruz

Not so many people like that in SoCal even today.

[thebeloitmoderate]

A reason possibly is because in addition to the already huge Spanish presence and influence the state has, migrants from the Midwest, Northeast moved there in the 20th century, as well as immigrants from The Philippines, and other non Latin American Catholic countries. 

[Sol]

Florida also historically has much less influence from Spanish colonization---outside of St. Augustine the state had very little Spanish settlement and was intermittently controlled by England too. Thus, unlike Texas or California, most of the Hispanophone influence is from recent immigrants.

[Samof94]

Florida also historically has much less influence from Spanish colonization---outside of St. Augustine the state had very little Spanish settlement and was intermittently controlled by England too. Thus, unlike Texas or California, most of the Hispanophone influence is from recent immigrants.

True. Pre 1959, it was more like a regular Southern state.

[RINO Tom]

Florida also historically has much less influence from Spanish colonization---outside of St. Augustine the state had very little Spanish settlement and was intermittently controlled by England too. Thus, unlike Texas or California, most of the Hispanophone influence is from recent immigrants.

Yeah, I remember reading one time that before the invention of the air conditioner, Florida was much more "Southern" culturally than nearly every other Southern state.

[Big Abraham]

Texas is very Catholic, at about 23%. Compare this with California, which is 28% Catholic. Both states have Protestant pluralities. I'd say the difference between them isn't that statistically significant.

[RINO Tom]

Texas is very Catholic, at about 23%. Compare this with California, which is 28% Catholic. Both states have Protestant pluralities. I'd say the difference between them isn't that statistically significant.

I think more people assume that California is significantly more Catholic because its non-Catholic Christians are much more divided than Texas' non-Catholic Christians:

TEXAS
50% Protestant (30% Evangelical, 14% Mainline, 6% Historically Black)
23% Catholic
1% Mormon
2% Other Christian

CALIFORNIA
32% Protestant (18% Evangelical, 12% Mainline, 2% Historically Black)
28% Catholic
1% Mormon
1% Orthodox

Thinking of major Christian groups that would cluster together culturally, Catholics in California (28%) are 10% higher than Evangelicals and 16% higher than Mainline Protestants.  Conversely, Catholics in Texas are still 7% behind Evangelicals when you break out every Protestant group, and they are only 7% ahead of Mainline Protestants, too.  I think Catholics would feel like a minority against a "Protestant majority" a lot more in Texas than they would in California.  This obviously doesn't even touch on the "Unaffiliated" populations, which I am guessing drew mainly from former Mainline Protestants in California.

P.S.  If anyone checks the Pew website, yes I absolutely removed any Lutherans, Methodists or Presbyterians from the "Evangelical" category for both states.  Having "conservative" beliefs does not mean a group like Missouri Synod Lutherans don't belong in the category with other Lutherans (signed, someone baptized as a Missouri Synod Lutheran).

[Cokeland Saxton]

More southern cultural influence than in California

[H. Ross Peron]

California whites have a higher proportion of white ethnics. Even besides generic migrants from the Northeast and Midwest to the Sunbelt, you have old ethnic Irish/Italian populations in San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as groups such as Portugese dairy farmers in the Central Valley.