The Rich Hate the GOP

 

Yeah, this chart says that Mimi Walters represents the 14th richest district, but she just lost too.

Mimi Walters had the district that Congressman John Campbell of the Hugh Hewitt radio show used to represent until 2015. I think he fled to rural Kansas, a state which came within less than 5,000 votes of having a split congressional delegation to go along with the new Democrat governor.

Republicans control 7 of the 50 richest congressional districts. The chart shows nine, but Young Kim is also now behind in her race. After Thanksgiving, I guess there will be no more Republicans left in California.

The remaining Republicans in the top 50 wealthiest districts include the following:

#21 Peter King, New York 2nd, won with 53% of the vote

#22 Pete Olson, Texas 22nd, won with 51% of the vote

#25 Lee Zeldin, New York 1st, won with 53% of the vote (Led Zeppelin is in Congress?)

#26 Van Taylor, Texas 3rd, won with 54% of the vote

#38 Michael Burgess, Texas 26th, won with 59% of the vote

#42 Robert Wittman, Virginia 1st, won with 55% of the vote

#47 Christopher Smith, New Jersey 4th, won with 55% of the vote. He’s the only Republican left.

New Jersey went from having five Republicans out of 12 districts to one Republican out of 12 districts — along with re-electing Senator Bob Menendez by over 10 percent of the vote.

The biggest problem with Texas is that the state may have become too wealthy…

I think I live in something like the second-poorest congressional district that consistently votes Republican and one of the top 15 or so pro-Trump districts.

You city folk still with your fancy health insurance and stuff just live in a totally different world.

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  1. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    • #1
  2. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    They have been molded to feel guilty for their success.

    The Illinois 9th District includes Kenilworth and Winnetka, which are bastions of socially liberal Republicans.  Wealthy stay at home moms with hired help from Mexico, Poland or Russia, driving their very large families to lacrosse practice in big black SUVs.  This district produced Bruce Rauner, who signed taxpayer funded abortions into state law at the urging of his wife.  Now he is a loser.  When people can’t tell the difference between a Republican and a Democrat, well, you see what happens.

    • #2
  3. The Cloaked Gaijin Member
    The Cloaked Gaijin
    @TheCloakedGaijin

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    They don’t.

    Trump won the top 4 of 6 family income wealth categories in 2016:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016#Voter_demographics

    On the other hand, Hillary Clinton won those with family incomes less than $50,000 by 53% to 41%.

    https://www.cnn.com/election/2016/results/exit-polls

    Uh, it’s complicated. 

    It has to do with leftist urban areas requiring more money to survive due to high taxes and stuff like that and various cultural and hate-Trump reasons.

    • #3
  4. Muleskinner Member
    Muleskinner
    @Muleskinner

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    How do you think those districts got so rich? That $20 trillion in debt had to go somewhere

    • #4
  5. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    The Cloaked Gaijin (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    They don’t.

    Trump won the top 4 of 6 family income wealth categories in 2016:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016#Voter_demographics

    On the other hand, Hillary Clinton won those with family incomes less than $50,000 by 53% to 41%.

    So the are the party of the poor?

    Uh, it’s complicated.

    It has to do with leftist urban areas requiring more money to survive due to high taxes and stuff like that and various cultural and hate-Trump reasons.

    Um….ok?

     

    • #5
  6. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Great chart. Thank you.

    • #6
  7. Poindexter Inactive
    Poindexter
    @Poindexter

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    Liberalism is an expensive hobby. Rich Democrats use their money to avoid the ramifications of their own ideology.

    • #7
  8. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    I saw somewhere it was 41 out 50. Don’t remember where.

    • #8
  9. The Cloaked Gaijin Member
    The Cloaked Gaijin
    @TheCloakedGaijin

    Zafar (View Comment):

    The Cloaked Gaijin (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    They don’t.

    Trump won the top 4 of 6 family income wealth categories in 2016:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016#Voter_demographics

    On the other hand, Hillary Clinton won those with family incomes less than $50,000 by 53% to 41%.

    So the are the party of the poor?

    Technically, they are sort of the party of extremes.

    Take California.

    It still has some of world’s best universities and some of the wealthiest people in the world along with some of the worst public schools and some of the poorest people in the United States.  It seems to be a giant state with — no middle.

    • #9
  10. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Aside from #17, NY-12, these are all suburban districts, with a high percentage of college educated folks.

    Trump has destroyed the Republican Party in suburbia, due to the revulsion of the highly educated to this crude bully and demagogue.

    Replace Trump and we will be competitive again.  Embrace Trump and resign yourself to be part of a permanent minority.

    • #10
  11. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    Why do so many people equate money as the greatest measure of success?

     

    • #11
  12. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    How about we go back to 1952?

    • #12
  13. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    Jules PA (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    Why do so many people equate money as the greatest measure of success?

     

    Because that’s how you know if you’re winning.

    • #13
  14. The Cloaked Gaijin Member
    The Cloaked Gaijin
    @TheCloakedGaijin

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Aside from #17, NY-12, these are all suburban districts, with a high percentage of college educated folks.

    Trump has destroyed the Republican Party in suburbia…

    It isn’t Trump fault that these people belong to a secular religious cult focused around being socially-aware and inward-looking about really weird stuff.

    I’ve always thought that one of the things that has kept the United States of America as the United States of America that we know is that the lower-income and often Christian classes in this country are not the ones demanding a socialist workers revolt.  In this country that is usually the demand of the over-educated and tenured PhD classes found on college campuses.

    • #14
  15. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Why should anyone be surprised by this?   It’s the history of mankind and the rise and decline of civilizations.   Of course big government is going to be controlled by big wealth.  That is the way it always has been but the founders recognized the threat so wanted a bigger but decentralized country with limited government to spread the organized interests more broadly and make them compete with each other.   It worked that way for a couple centuries but the organized interests, in the name of helping the poor, improving income distribution, controlling the rich and always in the name of  future justice empowered  government to undo the founders handy work.  That centralizing PR and broad historical lies about wealth and power still dominate the narrative.  All wealth has been created from the ground up through trade and all tyranny, and destruction of both wealth and human flourishing has been undertaken in the name of some abstraction by an ever narrowing elite wielding the power of legitimate government.

    • #15
  16. Paul Erickson Inactive
    Paul Erickson
    @PaulErickson

    I was startled to see my district (NJ 11th) in 7th place on this list.  Passaic County sure doesn’t feel like one of the wealthiest places in the country.  Must be those tony suburbs in Essex and Morris.

    • #16
  17. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Zafar (View Comment):

    The Cloaked Gaijin (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    They don’t.

    Trump won the top 4 of 6 family income wealth categories in 2016:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016#Voter_demographics

    On the other hand, Hillary Clinton won those with family incomes less than $50,000 by 53% to 41%.

    So the are the party of the poor?

    Uh, it’s complicated.

    It has to do with leftist urban areas requiring more money to survive due to high taxes and stuff like that and various cultural and hate-Trump reasons.

    Um….ok?

     

    The Democrats are the Third World Party.  The party of the very very rich, and the very very poor.   The very very rich can feel better by voting Democratic for The Common Worker and such.  The very very poor vote Democratic for the goodies.  United they are slowly killing the middle. 

    • #17
  18. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Despite Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, not one of those wealthiest districts is in Washington State.  And their district (WA 8th) just went Democrat from having been Republican for decades.

    • #18
  19. blank generation member Inactive
    blank generation member
    @blankgenerationmember

    Watch out for Ro Khanna in #3.  He’s as left as Bernie Sanders, but presents himself as a mild mannered technocrat.  

    • #19
  20. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Here are two articles that address how we were wiped out in California.

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/17/rip-california-gop-republicans-lash-out-after-midterm-election-debacle-1000481

    The money quote:

    “But a growing number of Republicans in the party’s #NeverTrump wing — which includes prominent strategists like Rob Stutzman and Luis Alvarado — insist that a new beginning will rely heavily on a full-throated repudiation of Trump’s caustic divisiveness. They believe the rebuilding process could require years, if not generations, to rid the state GOP of the taint of a president who is blamed for ramping up anti-immigrant sentiment in a state that is home to more immigrants than any other in the country.”

    From the Resurgent:

    https://www.themaven.net/theresurgent/contributors/after-midterms-republicans-are-endangered-species-on-west-coast-mA6jbuR5CUKInjWcJNzmIA/

    The first paragraph:

    “As midterm election results continue to roll in from California, the extent of the Republican rout on the West Coast is becoming apparent. At this point, it looks as though Democrat gains in the House will be a net increase of 38 seats. Almost 20 percent of these gains come from the West Coast and many are in the one-time Republican stronghold of Orange County, California where Republican congressional districts were wiped out.”

    • #20
  21. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    The Cloaked Gaijin (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    The Cloaked Gaijin (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    They don’t.

    Trump won the top 4 of 6 family income wealth categories in 2016:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016#Voter_demographics

    On the other hand, Hillary Clinton won those with family incomes less than $50,000 by 53% to 41%.

    So the are the party of the poor?

    Technically, they are sort of the party of extremes.

    Take California.

    It still has some of world’s best universities and some of the wealthiest people in the world along with some of the worst public schools and some of the poorest people in the United States. It seems to be a giant state with — no middle.

    This was the image presented for most of my lifetime by the countries of South America. They managed for a long time with an economic aristocracy, then the socialists came along followed by total collapse. California’s future?

    • #21
  22. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Here are two articles that address how we were wiped out in California.

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/17/rip-california-gop-republicans-lash-out-after-midterm-election-debacle-1000481

    The money quote:

    “But a growing number of Republicans in the party’s #NeverTrump wing — which includes prominent strategists like Rob Stutzman and Luis Alvarado — insist that a new beginning will rely heavily on a full-throated repudiation of Trump’s caustic divisiveness. They believe the rebuilding process could require years, if not generations, to rid the state GOP of the taint of a president who is blamed for ramping up anti-immigrant sentiment in a state that is home to more immigrants than any other in the country.”

    From the Resurgent:

    https://www.themaven.net/theresurgent/contributors/after-midterms-republicans-are-endangered-species-on-west-coast-mA6jbuR5CUKInjWcJNzmIA/

    The first paragraph:

    “As midterm election results continue to roll in from California, the extent of the Republican rout on the West Coast is becoming apparent. At this point, it looks as though Democrat gains in the House will be a net increase of 38 seats. Almost 20 percent of these gains come from the West Coast and many are in the one-time Republican stronghold of Orange County, California where Republican congressional districts were wiped out.”

    California is headed for a  South American style collapse. Republicans should be happy not to have participated actively.

    • #22
  23. Jason Obermeyer Member
    Jason Obermeyer
    @JasonObermeyer

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Trump has destroyed the Republican Party in suburbia, due to the revulsion of the highly educated to this crude bully and demagogue.

    Replace Trump and we will be competitive again. Embrace Trump and resign yourself to be part of a permanent minority.

    Can we stop calling everyone who doesn’t die of alcohol poisoning in college and somehow managed to get a degree – any degree – educated?  A Women Studies or even a Poli Sci degree (one of my two majors) does not a educated person make.  I’ve always liked the term “credentialed” rather than educated.

    • #23
  24. Jason Obermeyer Member
    Jason Obermeyer
    @JasonObermeyer

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    Three possible explanations (which may all be true):

    1.) They are smart and have solved major problems in their area of specialty.  Consequently, they think that they – or perhaps someone as smart as them with the relevant credentials – can solve similar problems on a national scale: be it education, health care, or the economy as a whole.  Doctrinaire conservatism – or what I consider to be doctrinaire conservatism – teaches that no one is smart enough to do this.  Liberals are either (1.) smart, but not smart enough to realize this truth or (2.) too vain to acknowledge it.

    2.) As a lawyer who deals with businesses, it seems that cutting edge industries tend to have more liberal people because taxes, regulations, etc. don’t always matter when you are working on something entirely new.  Either your idea is a success and it makes millions or it is a complete failure.  People in more established industries tend to be more conservative and worry about the effect that taxes and regulations have on a thinner profit margin.  Apple can heat their headquarters with $100 bills and still turn a profit; a tent manufacturer who makes tents that are virtually indistinguishable from other tents in the market has to pay more attention to all of the costs that get built into the price of the tent. 

    3.) There is a great deal of money to be made in big government.  For example, while I look askance at people who think that financiers on Wall Street don’t add value to the economy, I recognize that a good portion of the profits from firms like Goldman Sachs come from regulatory arbitrage rather than spending time analyzing and financing proposals from people who would move the economy forward.  Whenever there is a new tax credit or subsidy announced, rest assured that Goldman Sachs will set up a trading desk to beat it until it stops moving.   

    • #24
  25. The Cloaked Gaijin Member
    The Cloaked Gaijin
    @TheCloakedGaijin

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):
    https://www.gobankingrates.com/net-worth/politicians/which-party-represents-wealthiest-congressional-district-us/?utm_source=forbes.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=witchcraft

    Washington’s 1st congressional district is #30.

    It looks like it last voted for a Republican for president the time that Reagan carried 49 states in 1984.

    • #25
  26. ChrisShearer Coolidge
    ChrisShearer
    @ChrisShearer

    To paraphrase Thomas Franks “What’s wrong with California?”

    • #26
  27. The Cloaked Gaijin Member
    The Cloaked Gaijin
    @TheCloakedGaijin

    blank generation member (View Comment):

    Watch out for Ro Khanna in #3. He’s as left as Bernie Sanders, but presents himself as a mild mannered technocrat.

    That district is only 27% white.  Asian-Americans taught to hate the Founding Fathers and limited government?

    • #27
  28. The Cloaked Gaijin Member
    The Cloaked Gaijin
    @TheCloakedGaijin

    Jason Obermeyer (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Why do America’s most successful people vote Democrat?

    Three possible explanations (which may all be true):

    1.) They are smart and have solved major problems in their area of specialty. Consequently, they think that they … can solve similar problems on a national scale…

    2.) As a lawyer who deals with businesses, it seems that cutting edge industries tend to have more liberal people because taxes, regulations, etc. don’t always matter when you are working on something entirely new. …

    3.) There is a great deal of money to be made in big government. …

    #1 is a good reason, but I think most of it is cultural. 

    Disliking non-leftist ideas is a type of secular religion in the wealthy big cities.  Think of all the people who are constantly banned in social media for exercising their freedom of speech rights.  They see no problem with this as the targets are almost always those allied with conservatives.

    • #28
  29. blank generation member Inactive
    blank generation member
    @blankgenerationmember

    The Cloaked Gaijin (View Comment):

    blank generation member (View Comment):

    Watch out for Ro Khanna in #3. He’s as left as Bernie Sanders, but presents himself as a mild mannered technocrat.

    That district is only 27% white. Asian-Americans taught to hate the Founding Fathers and limited government?

    Don’t know about that.  It was definitely Clinton country in 2016.  The 2018 congressional vote was 75/25, Dem vs. Rep.  It’s really a bigger question why CA has gone Democrat in the last few decades.

    • #29
  30. The Cloaked Gaijin Member
    The Cloaked Gaijin
    @TheCloakedGaijin

    blank generation member (View Comment):

    The Cloaked Gaijin (View Comment):

    blank generation member (View Comment):

    Watch out for Ro Khanna in #3. He’s as left as Bernie Sanders, but presents himself as a mild mannered technocrat.

    That district is only 27% white. Asian-Americans taught to hate the Founding Fathers and limited government?

    Don’t know about that. It was definitely Clinton country in 2016. The 2018 congressional vote was 75/25, Dem vs. Rep. It’s really a bigger question why CA has gone Democrat in the last few decades.

    Well, in 2012 white Californians voted for Mitt Romney over President Obama 53%-45% as compared to Iowa where the white population voted for President Obama 51%-47% over Mitt Romney.

    Voters are often tribal.

    Apparently the last time Asian-Americans voted Republican (48%-43%) was in 1996, the Republican Party’s biggest electoral loss since Barry Goldwater.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1996#Voter_demographics

     

    • #30
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