As the presidential ballots are counted Tuesday, the state with the greatest bounty of electoral college votes is unlikely to be a stage of high drama.
California gave America three Republican presidents in the 20th century — Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan — but its citizens haven’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since they narrowly picked George H.W. Bush in 1988.
This time around, the state’s 55 electoral votes are considered a given in Democrat Hillary Clinton’s tally.
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“In California, even if I don’t vote, it doesn’t matter,” said Dexter Jayawardhana, 70, of Silver Lake, a supporter of Republican nominee Donald Trump. “It’s like throwing your vote into the river.”
Nevertheless, he plans to cast a ballot, as will millions of other Californians. Many are focused on the state, county and local offices that are up for grabs, as well as the fate of 17 statewide ballot measures.
Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, said that the disconnect between the Republican Party and the majority of Californians has been growing for decades. Conservative strongholds persist, including pockets of San Diego and Orange counties.
But as Californians on the whole have drifted leftward on a variety of issues — among them abortion rights, gun control, same-sex marriage and environmental protection — the Republican Party has moved to the right, Schnur said.
“Republicans are still running as if California were culturally, socially and demographically in the 1980s,” Schnur said. “That’s obviously not the case.”
The last time a Republican presidential candidate took California by a strong margin was in 1984, when Ronald Reagan trounced Walter Mondale by about 16 percentage points. In 1988, Bush defeated Democrat Michael Dukakis by about 3 points.
In California, even if I don’t vote, it doesn’t matter. It’s like throwing your vote into the river.
— Dexter Jayawardhana, Silver Lake resident
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Nellie Gillogly, left, of Santa Ana, and fellow Republicans erupt in celebration as Donald Trump wins Florida. OCGOP election party is at China Palace in Newport Beach.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 2/41
The crowd reacts in despair as Donald Trump takes the lead in the Electoral College.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 3/41
Republicans Enrietta Lee, left, and Lydia Sanders react while watching election night results at the OCGOP election party in Newport Beach.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 4/41
Hillary supporters Brooke Karzen, Annabelle Gustat - Karzan and Kit Karzan (L-R) react to the Presidential returns at the Kamala Harris rally in downtown Los Angeles.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 5/41
Republicans Enrietta Lee, left, prays, as Sarah McDowell, right, celebrates the announcement that Donald Trump has won the presidential race at the OCGOP election party in Newport Beach.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 6/41
Claudia Goytia checks her smart phone for any good news regarding Hillary Clinton while attending a party for Measure M in downtown LA. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles TImes)
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Brooke Saul, 31, of Echo Park, puts her arm around Amie Judd, 36, of Silverlake, as they react to Hillary Clinton conceding to Donald Trump at the Edison in downtown Los Angeles.
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Kamala Harris celebrates at her rally in downtown.
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L.A. County Supervisor candidate Janice Hahn celebrates her early lead in San Pedro.
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LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and his wife, Amy Wakeland embrace as they watch supporters of Proposition HHH celebrate an apparent victory for the measure aimed to combat homelessness. Left is LA City Councilman Herb Wesson and LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas, far left. (
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Republicans Sarah McDowell, center, of Westminster, reacts as a newscaster announces Donald Trump is pulling ahead of Hillary Clinton.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 12/41
Ashley Holloway, left, and Carol Uraneck, right, embrace as they solemnly watch Republican candidate for President Donald Trump jump ahead in the electoral college votes during the election night watch party at The Abbey in West Hollywood.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 13/41
A man checks the television to see the latest tally on the electoral votes, which show Donald Trump leading, during the election night party at The Abbey in West Hollywood.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 14/41
People gathered at the Abbey, in West Hollywood, hoping to watch history unfold after a divisive political year.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 15/41
The crowd reacts in disbelief as Republican candidate for President Donald Trump leads in the electoral college during the election night party at The Abbey in West Hollywood.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 16/41
A woman reacts in disbelief as Republican candidate for President Donald Trump takes a lead in the electoral college during the election night party at The Abbey in West Hollywood.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 17/41
The crowd reacts at the election night party at The Abbey as Donald Trump takes the lead in the Electoral College.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 18/41
Republicans from left: Nellie Gillogly, Sarah McDowell, and Enrietta Lee erupt in celebration as Donald Trump wins Florida.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 19/41
=Noramae Munster reacts to the announcement of new President Donald Trump at the Ports O’ Call restaurant in San Pedro.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 20/41
Sam Addeo, center, holds her breath before the poll results for the state of California is announced, at the Hillary Clinton Election Night Party in West Hollywood,
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 21/41
U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange), hugs supporters at her election night party.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 22/41
Staff hang signs at the election party for L.A. County Supervisor candidate Janice Hahn in San Pedro.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 23/41
People cast their votes at Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Operations in Venice.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 24/41
People cast their votes as a surfer heads to the water against a backdrop of the Venice Pier.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 25/41
Downtown resident Ruth Bowles cast her ballot at the Weingart Center for the Homeless on skid row.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 26/41
Tristy Patterson, left and her mom Sherah Rush, from Manhattan Beach, take a selfie outside the Manhattan Beach Library, where they just finished voting, Tuesday November 8, 2016.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 27/41
Shaquanda Oliverez, right, plays with her one-year-old daughter Olivia Camacho while their laundry dries, as Caine Crockett, left, votes at Super Suds laundromat in Long Beach.
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UCLA student Mikhail Khan, right, waits in line to cast his vote along with fellow students and residents at the Alpha Gamma Omega Fraternity House in Westwood.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 29/41
A pedestrian passes a polling place at the Weingart Center for the Homeless on Skid Row in Los Angeles. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Dogs wait patiently as their owners vote at MADE in Long Beach. (Christina House / For The Times)
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Orange resident Bethany Peralta holds her one-month old daughter Lucia while she waits in line to cast herr ballot at Orange High School.
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Voters cast ballots at a polling station at Watts Towers Arts Center in Los Angeles.
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Jayna Randle shows off her voting sticker at the Watts Towers Arts Center in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Camila Chavez, 3, plays as her grandmother Alexandrian Barrios votes at a polling station at the Watts Towers Arts Center.
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Matthew Jasinsky, 3, waits for mother Damaris Marti to vote at the Mexican Baptist Church in the East Los Angeles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Kent Barkouras, of Newport Beach, wears a patriotic costume while waiting to vote at the Lido Isle Clubhouse. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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California Attorney General Kamala Harris casts her vote along with her husband Douglas Emhoff at Kenter Canyon Elementary School in Los Angeles.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 38/41
UCLA student Lauren Fitzgibbon, 21, right, waits in line to cast his vote along with fellow students and residents at the Alpha Gamma Omega Fraternity House in Westwood.
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People line up to vote at a polling station at Watts Towers Arts Center in Los Angeles.
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People wait to vote at a polling station at Watts Towers Arts Center in Los Angeles.
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People line up early to cast their ballot at a polling station at Watts Towers Arts Center in Los Angeles.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Democrats won the state in the next six contests. Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and speechwriter for Pete Wilson when he was governor in the 1990s, said the state’s loss of aerospace jobs early in that decade, and a booming Latino population, fueled the shift from red to blue.
Presidential elections in California “have become predictable mail-it-in affairs,” Whalen said, adding: “Lack of competition is never a good thing in a democracy.”
President Obama has come to California repeatedly with the goal of raising money, he said, but not to tackle the state’s problems. And the state is left out of the barnstorming treatment candidates lavish on swing states such as Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
“If [California’s] 55 electoral votes were at stake, the next president would spend a lot more time on the ground here solving problems, not collecting checks,” Whalen said.
Joanne Polite, 76, of Silver Lake, is a Clinton supporter and retired school administrator who voted by mail.
She is glad to live in a blue state, she said, but is nervous about the presidential outcome and didn’t want to take any chances.
“Just because it’s a Democratic state, it doesn’t mean I don’t have to vote,” Polite said. “I can’t say Hillary is a shoo-in right now.”
Along with the presidential race, she said she will be closely watching the results of Measure M, a transportation sales tax she supports.
As she walked up a hill on a residential block in Silver Lake, she said the city needs mass transportation akin to New York City’s. “That should’ve started in the ’40s and ’50s,” she said. “Transportation will make a big difference. ...We need it very badly.”
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Times staff writers Nina Agrawal, Makeda Easter and Anh Do contributed to this report.
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