How San Diego County swung red in the 2024 presidential election
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
While San Diego stayed blue in the 2024 election, President-elect Trump made surprising gains among local voters.
The big picture: Reliably-blue California also favored the Democratic ticket last year, but swung toward the right as support for the Republican Party swelled in the vast majority of counties nationwide.
Driving the news: In a series this week, KPBS, inewsource and Voice of San Diego dove into San Diego County's red shift as part of a newsroom collaboration focused on democracy.
What they found: Voter turnout was down overall in November, but Democrats took a harder hit, losing voters in San Diego and Imperial counties, particularly in heavily Latino areas.
- Trump gained support in San Ysidro and Chula Vista, despite Vice President Kamala Harris winning the overall vote.
- In southeastern San Diego, 71% of voters chose the Democratic candidate in 2024, compared to 81% in 2020, with large declines in Chollas Park and Paradise Hills. Meanwhile, Republicans gained ground with 29% of the vote in 2024, up from 19% in 2020.
- Imperial County flipped from blue to red, marking the first time the county voted for a Republican presidential candidate in more than 30 years. Trump won by about 500 votes, but increased his vote share from 37% in 2020 to 49% in 2024.
What they're saying: The local shift aligns with a "national trend among conservative leaning Latinos to realign with the Republican Party," and an "anti-incumbent" trend, USD professor Casey Dominguez told inewsource.
- Residents' concerns about the economy, and high costs of groceries, gas and housing under Democratic leadership also likely contributed to the swing, experts said.
Fun fact: The last time California voted to elect a Republican president was in 1988 with George H.W. Bush.