# Conservative Big Cities **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645 "2009-08-25T16:36:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/1 "2009-08-25T16:36:09Z")
Are there any major US cities which is generally conservative? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/2 "2009-08-25T17:30:38Z")
Salt Lake City? Oklahoma City? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/3 "2009-08-25T17:34:08Z")
Provo Abilene Colorado Springs Bakersfield ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/4 "2009-08-25T17:34:59Z")
Salt Lake City is pretty politically liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/5 "2009-08-25T17:36:01Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Salt Lake City is pretty politically liberal. Provo sure isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/6 "2009-08-25T17:37:36Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Salt Lake City is pretty politically liberal. It’s not very big either. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/7 "2009-08-25T17:41:02Z")
Houston? Just a WAG on my part, but it never seemed the a hotbed of liberalism to me. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/8 "2009-08-25T17:43:45Z")
From 2005 [A new nationwide study released by the nonpartisan Bay Area Center for Voting Research (BACVR) ranks the political leanings of every American city and finds that Detroit, Michigan is the most liberal and Provo, Utah the most conservative](http://govpro.com/content/gov_imp_31439/): Americas 25 Most Conservative Cities(in descending order) 1 Provo Utah 2 Lubbock Texas 3 Abilene Texas 4 Hialeah Florida 5 Plano Texas 6 Colorado Springs Colorado 7 Gilbert Arizona 8 Bakersfield California 9 Lafayette Louisiana 10 Orange California 11 Escondido California 12 Allentown Pennsylvania 13 Mesa Arizona 14 Arlington Texas 15 Peoria Arizona 16 Cape Coral Florida 17 Garden Grove California 18 Simi Valley California 19 Corona California 20 Clearwater Florida 21 West Valley City Utah 22 Oklahoma City Oklahoma 23 Overland Park Kansas 24 Anchorage Alaska 25 Huntington Beach California ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/9 "2009-08-25T17:45:28Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > It’s not very big either. Salt Lake City proper is pretty liberal (we have had a Democratic mayor for the past 25+ years) but the surrounding cities that make up the SLC greater metro area (over 1,100,000 million in population) are typically much more conservative (read—a much higher Mormon population) ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/10 "2009-08-25T17:47:15Z")
Double Post ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/11 "2009-08-25T17:52:25Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Salt Lake City proper is pretty liberal (we have had a Democratic mayor for the past 25+ years) but the surrounding cities that make up the SLC greater metro area (\*\*over 1,100,000 million \*\*in population) are typically much more conservative (read—a much higher Mormon population) Over 1.1 trillion people? That definitely qualifies as big 🙂 I’ve lived in 2 of the cities on Squink’s list: Lubbock, Tx and Plano, Tx and there is a world of difference between them. Lubbock is the worst sort of conservative with people who scream but don’t know why while Plano is economically conservative but much less vocal on social issues. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/12 "2009-08-25T18:46:17Z")
I don’t think there are ANY big cities that are reliably conservative, or even Republican. Even big Sun Belt cities in Texa and Florida usually elect Democrats (often very liberal Democrats) as mayors. People outside Texas may ASSUME Dallas and Houston are conservative cities, but both cities have very large black and Hispanic populations, which means they usually elect Democrats to local offices. Now, in the big suburbs SURROUNDING Houston and Dallas, you find VERY conservative populations, just as you do in many cities. MOST people prefer to surround themselves with other people who are very much like themselves (blacks with blacks, gays with gays, yuppies with yuppies, et al). Conservatives generally cluster in the suburbs. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/13 "2009-08-25T18:46:19Z")
As mentioned, SLC is liberal. The Utah legislature has done yeoman work in attempting to gerrymander the state to break up the liberals in SLC. I lived in Cedar City (south-west corner of the state) and was in the same congressional district with eastern SLC. [Map here.](http://www.kued.org/productions/voteutah/images/districtMap2002.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/14 "2009-08-25T18:50:57Z")
Cincinatti is usually considered conservative in spite of Jerry Springer being mayor there for a short stint. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/15 "2009-08-25T18:52:15Z")
Salt Lake must’ve changed since I lived there. I’d never have pegged it as liberal. The major religious groups there are LDS and Catholic. And while the Catholics always seemed liberal in comparison to the Mormons (a weird experience for me – i was in the University Newman community at the time), I wouldn’t call them Liberal by comparison to groups outside SLC. That Salt Lake can be considered liberal now boggles my mind. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/16 "2009-08-25T19:03:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Salt Lake must’ve changed since I lived there. I’d never have pegged it as liberal. The major religious groups there are LDS and Catholic. And while the Catholics always seemed liberal in comparison to the Mormons (a weird experience for me – i was in the University Newman community at the time), I wouldn’t call them Liberal by comparison to groups outside SLC. That Salt Lake can be considered liberal now boggles my mind. Yes, Salt Lake has changed. From when I was living in the area, I remember there was a small wave of more liberal types after the [dot.com](http://dot.com) bust. They sold their expensive hovels in California and moved to Utah where they could afford McMansions for the same amount of money. I imagine there have been other waves as well. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/17 "2009-08-25T19:05:40Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > As mentioned, SLC is liberal. The Utah legislature has done yeoman work in attempting to gerrymander the state to break up the liberals in SLC. I lived in Cedar City (south-west corner of the state) and was in the same congressional district with eastern SLC. [Map here.](http://www.kued.org/productions/voteutah/images/districtMap2002.gif) Cedar, huh? I used to work at the Sunshine Truck Stop north of town. Our neighbors used to have us non-Mormons go buy booze for them. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/18 "2009-08-25T19:25:57Z")
Abilene isn’t what you’d usually think of as “big city.” We’re only about 120,000 within the city, or 160,000 if you count smaller towns in the surrounding area. Definitely very conservative, though. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/19 "2009-08-25T20:35:56Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > From 2005 > [Americas 25 Most Conservative Cities(in descending order) > 1 Provo Utah > 2 Lubbock Texas > 3 Abilene Texas > 4 Hialeah Florida > 5 Plano Texas > 6 Colorado Springs Colorado > 7 Gilbert Arizona > 8 Bakersfield California > 9 Lafayette Louisiana > 10 Orange California > 11 Escondido California > 12 Allentown Pennsylvania > 13 Mesa Arizona > 14 Arlington Texas > 15 Peoria Arizona > 16 Cape Coral Florida > 17 Garden Grove California > 18 Simi Valley California > 19 Corona California > 20 Clearwater Florida > 21 West Valley City Utah > 22 Oklahoma City Oklahoma > 23 Overland Park Kansas > 24 Anchorage Alaska > 25 Huntington Beach California Interestingly if you look at that list, except for Oklahoma City, Anchorage, Allentown, Bakersfield, Abilene and Lubbock, all the cities listed are suburbs of larger liberal cities. _Cape Coral is pretty much a suburb of Fort Myers even though now it has twice as many people, it still pretty much functions as a bedroom community to it. Though it’s changing slowly into the main city of the area._ ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645/20 "2009-08-25T22:24:01Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Now, in the big suburbs SURROUNDING Houston and Dallas, you find VERY conservative populations, just as you do in many cities. Right. I doubt you’ll find any cities in the top ten by population that lean Republican. But among the ten biggest counties by population, several are more likely than the nation as a whole to vote Republican over the latest two presidential elections: Harris County in Texas (home of Houston), Maricopa County in Arizona (Phoenix), and Orange County in California. San Diego County in California was close to the national results. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-big-cities/507645.md?page=2)