A look at California Delegates

California will send 441 delegates to the Democratic National Convention.  370 will be determined by the primary election on Tuesday, of which 241 will be determined at the Congressional District Level.  As we saw in Nevada, whether a district has an even or odd number of delegates will count a lot towards whether the popular vote winner there actually will get a delegate advantage.

There are 53 Congressional Districts in California.  21 will send an odd number of delegates to the national convention - 2 CDs with 3 delegates and 19 with 5.  Any delegate who carries any of these CDs will automatically get a 1-delegate advantage.  However, it will be extremely difficult for either candidate to win by a sufficiently large amount to gain a 3-delegate advantage over the other.

The other 32 congressional districts all have an even number of delegates.  Unless whoever wins that district does so by a near landslide, whoever wins the district will not win an advantage in the number of delegates.  Of these 32 districts, six will send 6 delegates to the national convention and the rest will send 4.

Here's a look at all 53 districts in California and who I predict will come out ahead.

Legend
CD = Congressional District
Description = Includes loose description of whether county is in North California (No), the Bay Area (Bay), Central California (C), The Central Coast (CC), the LA Area (LA) or Southern California (So)
2004 = Bush/Kerry result in 2004
Congressman = Includes party of current representative
Demographics = Includes demographic makeup of Hispanics (H), Whites (W), Asians (A) and Blacks (B) whenever one of those groups exceeds 10%.
Predict. = My predicted delegate breakdown.

Districts with 3 delegates.  Delegates will split 2-1 if a candidate wins 50-83.3% of the vote.  A candidate needs greater than 83.3% of the vote to win all three delegates.  I think Hillary has the advantage in each district but probably not sufficient in either one to gain a 3-0 advantage.


CD  Description      2004   Congressman     Demographics        Predict.
20  C-Fresno         K-51   Costa (D)       63%H,21%W           2-1 HRC
47  LA-Anaheim       B-50   Lo. Sanchez (D) 65%H,17%W,14%A      2-1 HRC

Districts with 4 delegates.  Delegates will split 3-1 only if a candidate gets between 62.5% and 85% of the vote.  Less than 62.5% will result in a 2-2 split.  More than 85% will result in a 4-0 split. Hillary is favored almost everywhere here, but will be hardpressed to get greater than 62.5% of the vote to win the majority of delegates.  There's a few districts where that might be possible, notably those with very high Hispanic and Asian populations.


CD  Description       2004   Congressman     Demographics        Predict.
2   No-Redding         B-62   Herger (R)      81%W                2-2
3   No-Alpine/Amador B-58     Lungren (R)     79%W                2-2
11  C-Plsntn/Lodi     B-58   McNerney (D)     64%W,20%H           2-2
16  Bay-San Jose      K-63   Lofgren (D)     38%H,32%W,23%A      2-2
18  C-Stockton        B-50   Cardoza (D)     42%H,39%W           2-2
19  C-Tuolumne/Madera B-61   Radanovich (R)  59%W,28%H           2-2
21  C-Tulare          B-65   Nunes (R)       46%W,43%H           2-2
22  C-SLO Cty/Kern    B-68   McCarthy (R)    67%W,21%H           2-2
25  So-Barstow        B-59   McKeon (R)      57%W,27%H           2-2
26  So-Rancho Cucam.  B-55   Dreier (R)      53%W,24%H,15%A      2-2
31  LA-Downtown LA    K-77   Becerra (D)     70%H,14%A           3-1 HRC
32  LA-East LA        K-62   Solis (D)       62%H,18%A,15%W      3-1 HRC
34  LA-Hunt. Pak      K-69   Royb.-All. (D)  77%H,11%W           2-2
38  LA-Pomona         K-65   Napolitano (D)  71%H,14%W,10%A      3-1 HRC
39  LA-Southgate      K-59   Li. Sanchez (D) 61%H,21%W,10%A      2-2
40  LA-Orange         B-60   Royce (R)       49%W,30%H,15%A      2-2
41  So-San Bern. Cty  B-62   Lewis (R)       64%W,23%H           2-2
42  LA-Mission Viejo  B-62   Miller (R)      54%W,24%H,16%A      2-2
43  So-Ontr./SanBern. K-58   Baca (D)        58%H,23%W,12%B      2-2
44  So-Riverside      B-59   Calvert (R)     51%W,35%H           2-2
45  So-Palm Springs   B-56   Bono (R)        50%W,38%H           2-2
46  So-Huntngtn. Bch. B-57   Rohrabacher (R) 63%W,17%H,15%A      2-2
48  So-Newport Beach  B-58   Campbell (R)    68%W,15%H,13%A      2-2
49  So-Oceanside      B-63   Issa (R)        58%W,30%H           2-2
51  So-Imperial Cty.  K-53   Filner (D)      53%H,21%W,12%A      3-1 HRC
52  So-East SD Cty.   B-61   Hunter (R)      73%W,14%H           2-2

Districts with 5 delegates.  Delegates will split 3-2 if a candidate wins between 50 and 70% of the vote.  Delegates will split 4-1 if a candidate wins between 70 and 85 of the vote.  Delegates will go 5-0 if a candidate wins greater than 85% of the vote.  Hillary will win the lion's share of these as well, but Obama will likely pick of a few as well.  I don't see any of these districts being a sufficient enough of a landslide to go to one candidate 4-1 or 5-0.


CD  Description       2004   Congressman     Demographics        Predict.
1   No-Mend/Hum Cty   K-60   Thompson (D)    79%W,18%H           3-2 BO
4   No-Lake Tahoe     B-61   Doolittle (R)   89%W                3-2 HRC
5   C-Sacramento      K-61   Matsui (D)      61%W,21%H,15%A,15%B 3-2 HRC
7   Bay-Vacaville     K-67   Miller (D)      43%W,21%H,17%B,13%A 3-2 BO
10  Bay-Walnut Creek  K-58   Tauscher (D)    65%W,15%H           3-2 HRC
13  Bay-Fremont       K-71   Stark (D)       38%W,28%A,21%H      3-2 HRC
15  Bay-Milpitas      K-63   Honda (D)       47%W,29%A,17%H      3-2 HRC
17  CC-Monterey Bay   K-66   Farr (D)        46%W,43%H           3-2 HRC
23  CC-SLO/SBarb/Vent K-58   Capps (D)       49%W,42%H           3-2 HRC
24  So-Thous. Oaks    B-56   Gallegly (R)    68%W,22%H           3-2 HRC
27  LA-San Fern Vall. K-59   Sherman (D)     45%W,37%H,11%A      3-2 HRC
28  LA-Van Nuys       K-71   Berman (D)      56%H,31%W           3-2 HRC
29  LA-Pasadena       K-61   Schiff (D)      39%W,26%H,24%A      3-2 HRC
33  LA-Culver City    K-83   Watson (D)      35%H,30%B,20%W,12%A 3-2 BO
35  LA-Inglewood      K-79   Waters (D)      47%H,34%B,10%W      3-2 BO
36  LA-Torrance       K-59   Harman (D)      48%W,30%H,13%A      3-2 HRC
37  LA-Long Beach     K-74   Richardson (D)  43%H,25%B,17%W,11%A 3-2 HRC
50  So-Carlsbad       B-55   Bilbray (R)     66%W,19%H,10%A      3-2 HRC
53  So-San Diego      K-61   Davis (D)       51%W,29%H           3-2 HRC

Districts with 6 delegates.  District will split 4-2 if a candidate wins between 58.3% and 75% of the vote; it will split 3-3 if it is less than 58.3%; it will split 5-1 if a candidate wins between 75% and 85% and 6-0 if it is greater than 85%.  Obama has a good chance of winning a few of thse by a sufficient margin to take a delegate advantage.  I don't know if Hillary has any hope here.


CD  Description       2004   Congressman     Demographics        Predict.
6   Bay-Marin/Sonoma  K-70   Woolsey (D)     76%W,15%H           4-2 BO
8   Bay-San Francisco K-84   Pelosi (D)      43%W,29%A,15%H      3-3
9   Bay-Oakland       K-86   Lee (D)         35%W,26%B,18%H,15%A 4-2 BO
12  Bay-San Mateo Cty K-72   Lantos (D)      48%W,29%A,16%H      3-3
14  Bay-Palo Alto     K-68   Eshoo (D)       60%W,18%H,16%A      3-3
30  LA-Malibu         K-66   Waxman (D)      76%W                4-2 BO

So in summary, the congressional-district delegate breakdown should favor Hillary, but not overwhelmingly; about +15 for the 241 delegates at stake.  She'll also win a majority of the statewide at-large delegates to go about +25 or +30 for the state as a whole.

*UPDATE* - Statewide apportionment

At-large statewide delegates are awarded proportionally in two pots. One pot has 48 delegates, one has 81 delegates. Here's how it would break down:

Winner's Delegate
Vote Pct Apportionment
up to 51.0 65-64
51.1-51.2 66-63
51.3-52.4 67-62
52.4-53.1 68-61
53.1-53.7 69-60
53.8-54.9 70-59
55.0-55.2 71-58
55.3-56.1 72-57
56.2-57.2 73-56
57.3-57.4 74-55
57.5-58.6 75-54



Display:


Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

i heard on fox news that her internals show her up 17 in california.

but hey its fox news.


Educated in a small town Taught to fear Jesus in a small town Used to daydream in that small town Another born romantic that's me.
by lori on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 09:43:01 PM EST

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

I don't trust internal polling from any campaign.


Restore America's Strength.
by RJEvans on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 10:30:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

alot of hard work, so thanks alot! i am confident she will win the state, but this entire rule of proportional delegation makes no sense; since it seems unfair. Ex: If she wins 55-45 in a district and it has 4 delegates, Obama still gets 2.

This is the reason why the Democratic party keeps on losing, it doesn't know how to end elections asap.

I think our race will end in OH and TX, while McCain is uniting the party and raising funds and airing ads in PA, MO, OH.


by American1989 on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 09:51:23 PM EST

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

Yeah, the system is ridiculous.  Completely undemocratic and must be dismantled.


by DaveOinSF on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 10:02:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

If you win 55% of the vote it is the same as if you lose with 45% of the vote.  That's undemocratic.


by DaveOinSF on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 10:36:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

You never, know, if Obama loses and McCain in the clear frontrunner, maybe there will be pressure for Obama to drop out. Unlikely, but a possibility.


Restore America's Strength.
by RJEvans on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 10:30:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

Great diary.

Do you really think BO will win Maxine Waters' district?  I had no idea it contained so many more hispanics than AAs.

Also, do these thresholds for allocating delegates within districts also apply to other states, or does the exact definition of what "PR" means differ across states?


by FuzzyDunlop2 on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 10:05:21 PM EST

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

I'm just making my own guess.  Use my data to make your own predictions.


by DaveOinSF on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 10:30:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

These thresholds work in all states...depends how many delegates each Congressional district gets

--

The Latino numbers in California can be a bit misleading -- because the population is much younger, many are non-citizens, and participation is low. Latinos are about 35% of the California population, but we are only about 15-18% of the Democratic primary electorate.

Because of that, African-American voters outnumber Latino voters in these districts. It gives Obama an advantage in several of these districts which on paper look like they are Latino dominated districts.


by lifelongdem on Sun Feb 03, 2008 at 12:20:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

Excellent analysis.

I think Waxman's CD will split 3-3. And I'm not so sure about Watson and maybe Waters' districts going 3-2 for Obama, but it doesn't take much to get the advantage in those 5 delegate districts. These delegate calculations based on CD and previous turn-out are so very strange, I really don't see the logic behind it.


by LakersFan on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 10:16:19 PM EST

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

Amazing work! Thank you so much for putting in the time and spectacular effort.


by along on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 10:29:13 PM EST

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

Thanks for the amazing amount of work.  What a screwy system, where candidates have more incentive to compete depending on whether there are an odd or even number of delegates in a district.


by markjay on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 11:08:03 PM EST

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

it really doesn't work out like that. if they are so close that it MEANS something that they consider putting more effort into those districts, then what is actually happening is they are competing at a much more vigorous level than normal. Many races are not this close, so it usually doesn't come down to this--the most common kind of campaigning is blanket wholesale TV ads, regardless of Congressional District.


by along on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 11:35:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

nice job... (none / 0)

but you couldn't wait 48 hours? :-)

I could cherry pick some districts where I think you're off (CD- 14, CD- 23, CD- 45 stick out) but it is a very solid analysis.

I probably would debate you that race/ethnic is the key demographic.  I personally think that it is age that is the most significant demographic, in the absence of overwhelming AA or Hispanic (over 40%) weight.  We lost Nevada because we got creamed in the older voter group and unlike Iowa, the younger voters did not offset HRC's older voter advantage.  AA's and Hispanics largely cancelled each other out in Nevada.

There is no question that absentee balloting is going heavy to HRC.  But this is largely due to seniors preferring to vote by mail.  What we are banking on is massive turnout and a majority of late deciders to Obama.  

As you know, the weather here has been terrible for the last 2 to 3 weeks, lots of wind and rain.  The weather forecast on Tuesday almost Statewide is clear and warming.  


Our Moment Is Now
by mboehm on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 11:46:44 PM EST

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

Thanks so much.  Great work.

This may go a long way to explain why the candidates are in other states this weekend.  I saw/heard/read somewhere earlier this weekend that since Barack Obama hasn't been campaigning in CA, he's basically given up on it.  This analysis seems to suggest that it would take a massive landslide to move CA appreciably, so it makes more sense to spend time in other states.


by the mollusk on Sun Feb 03, 2008 at 01:31:16 AM EST

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

Thank you for a very detailed analysis which you obviously put a lot of work into, but I thought each Congressional district apportioned delegates winner-take-all.


by Drummond on Sun Feb 03, 2008 at 02:06:45 AM EST

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

no


by DaveOinSF on Sun Feb 03, 2008 at 03:25:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A look at California Delegates (none / 0)

Hey - do you have this in a spreadsheet?  Would you be willing to share the file?


by tilthouse on Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 06:52:35 PM EST


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