District Winner Total Votes
California 34 (Los Angeles) D+53.6 74,818
California 31 (Los Angeles) D+100 64,952

Neil Stevens has an interesting post at Redstate about "Rotten boroughs" in California, among other states. He points to some interesting issues. He points to illegal immigration more than I would and less to legal immigrants in the Los Angeles area, in particular.

I want to point to a different thing. The Caifornia GOP primary is winner-take-all by congressional district. That is, in some of these districts, like the ones to the right, there are 4-1 D-to-R registration rates. Assume turnout that is half of general election turnout. In CA-34, we are talking about 7,000 voters in a GOP primary. In CA-31, it is closer to 6,000.  If it takes 40% to win these primaries, that means about 3,000 votes in CA-31 and 2,500 in CA-34. Compare that to heavily GOP districts in which 60k or more voters will allocate those delegates.

Is that right? Are the campaigns really prepared for the rotten boroughs of California?


Soren Dayton

Soren Dayton is an advocacy professional in Washington, DC who has worked in policy, politics, and in human rights, including in India. Soren grew up in Chicago.