Breaking Electoral Stereotypes in California’s Blue Countryside

Article by Sean Colaljo, TPT Staff Writer

The American countryside tends to lean Republican: it’s predominantly white, older, and far removed from the innovation of the cities. Rural California often follows this trend, too, but exceptions exist—and we as Democrats must recognize them. Lake County, next door to wine-growing Napa Valley, and Humboldt County, home to most of California’s famous redwoods, have voted Democratic in every general election for nearly four decades. Nevada County voted for Romney in 2012 but switched to Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, making it an outlier in the otherwise conservative Sierra Foothills. The best case studies, however, are Alpine and Mendocino Counties. They shatter geographic and demographic stereotypes with their staunchly blue politics.

Alpine County is one of California’s most isolated regions. Nestled deep in the Sierra Nevada, it’s escaped the wave of outdoors tourism that hit nearby Lake Tahoe and is home to just 1,200 people. Yet Alpine’s voting record looks more like San Francisco’s: it rejected Newsom’s recall by a 22-point margin, and over 64% of its voters chose Biden. When Proposition 8—a 2008 ban on same-sex marriage that passed but was immediately challenged in courts—was on the ballot, Alpine was not only one of only two interior counties to reject the proposal but also did so by a 13-point margin, even as traditional Democratic strongholds like Los Angeles and Sacramento Counties voted in favor. Its voter turnout is consistently well above the state average too.

Markleeville, the tiny seat of rural yet deep-blue Alpine County. Los Angeles Times

Why? Factors include the influx of Bay Area liberals during the pro-nature Back to the Land movement of the 1960s and 1970s, their continued migration to Alpine today, the massive Democratic-leaning Native American community—nearly a quarter of county residents are members—and the exodus of Republicans, who often move to nearby counties that vote as reliably red as Alpine votes blue. The likeliest explanation, though, is Alpine’s undeniably beautiful vistas. Residents appreciate what’s around them, are drawn to the Democratic Party’s environmentalist stance, and appreciate the fact that 95% of the land is national forest, banning disruptive development in essentially the whole county. Many also cite the dependence on neighbors and community that rural life necessitates and how easy it was to drum up Democratic support through word of mouth.

Yet if Alpine is analyzed demographically, seemingly contradictory facts reveal themselves: the county is predominantly white, over 25% of residents are seniors—a politically active group—and residents are generally quite affluent. We as Democrats tend to dismiss all three groups as old, rich conservatives. That might be true elsewhere, but Alpine County proves the folly of those stereotypes—and boldly so too, considering how conservative its neighbors are. We simply cannot ignore voters on demographic or geographic lines.

Remote Mendocino County offers similar lessons. Famed for its redwoods and rugged coastline, it is the poster child of California’s far north. Yet like Alpine, its sparsely populated landscape hides a liberal undercurrent. 63.2% of voters rejected Proposition 8, 64.7% rejected Newsom’s recall, and 66.4% voted for Biden. Residents strongly protested the fall of Roe v. Wade, and the municipal council of Fort Bragg—Mendocino’s largest town—unanimously approved a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The whole region also boasts a decades-old reputation as the center of Californian and even American cannabis production.

The clearest reason for Mendocino’s liberalism is its environmentalism, explained once again by the county’s natural beauty and renowned statewide for its strength. Fort Bragg is embracing wave-powered desalination to address water security concerns, and local governments are devising innovative answers to sea level rise, such as living shorelines. These utilize natural materials such as plants, rocks, and oyster reefs to reduce coastal erosion. Residents recognize that climate change is not affecting Mendocino equally and that it is exacerbating income-based inequities as well. A low-income trailer park was cut off from the world for a month after floods exacerbated by recent wildfires—trees hold topsoil in place, and when they burn, loose dirt and gravel are free to shift around—destroyed its only access road. More recently, a plan to build a new gas station sparked such a massive environmentalist backlash that the local Democrats passed a resolution calling for an all-out ban on new gas stations in the county. Mendocino recognizes that backing the blue means backing nature.

Native American rights are another major focus of Mendocino politics. Hundreds of acres of redwoods were returned to local Sinkyone tribes in 2022, centuries after they were displaced from a place that has always been culturally important to them. The land was immediately renamed in the Sinkyone language and declared off-limits to future development. Further, California granted millions to Mendocino’s tribes this past September to combat homelessness and housing insecurity, merging two key pillars of the liberal platform—combating socioeconomic inequality and supporting Native Americans—and providing a visible example of Democrats’ commitment to equity in all corners of the state.

Like Alpine County, Mendocino’s geography and demographics seem to contradict its ideological bent. About 90,000 people, spread out across land the size of San Diego County, call Mendocino home, and nearly 25% are seniors. Only about 7% are Native American. But again, assumptions based on these numbers alone are fatal. Their political beliefs and records are, in many ways, à la Los Angeles, even as neighboring counties throw their weight behind the Republican Party.

California’s cities—and America’s in general—have always been the Democratic Party’s bright beacons of liberalism. Yet we cannot let that light outshine rural progressives’ bravery and their loyalty to the same ideals that we all profess. Mere demographics must not blind us either. Alpine and Mendocino Counties, two blue specks in the blood-red backcountry, are lessons on that exact point. A Democrat is still a Democrat, no matter who or where they are.