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The following was a version of the Political Culture of California section of the California article. This section underwent a major edit. The unedited version is archived here (not including images or data box), for use in editing this Politics of California article.
Political culture
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California has an idiosyncratic political culture brought on by the diversity of its electorate. Having been the second state to legalize abortion in the 1960s and one of the first states to legalize domestic partnerships for gay couples, California also was the first state where voters said that only marriage between a man and a woman would be recognized. Its voters was the first to eliminate affirmative action through Proposition 209 but rejected Proposition 54, an initiative that would ban the state from collecting racial data in all but select circumstances. Voters approved California Proposition 187 (1994) to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving public services in the state (later overturned by a federal court) yet it provides them with in-state tuition for public universities. Illegal immigration remains a divisive issue with most liberals and a majority of Democrats want to expand legal rights for illegal immigrants, but widely opposed by many conservatives and a large percentage of Republicans.
The state's African American vote remains mostly loyal to the Democrats; Latinos mobilized by the campaign around Proposition 187 formed a large and growing bulwark of the Democratic Party. Caucasians in the suburbs and rural areas are reliable for Republican candidates. Partisan loyalties have shifted in past twenty years with the once-Republican inner suburban strongholds in Los Angeles County and the Bay Area moving to the Democrats. Republicans count on the votes in fast growing Inland Empire and Central Valley to make up the difference. The most pronounced trend in partisan affiliation is the increase in voters who "decline to state", or not register with any political party. In 1994, only 10% declined to register with a party, that number is now 19%.[1]
California is currently considered a reliably Democratic state. Once very conservative, having elected conservatives such as Ronald Reagan as governor and William Knowland as senator, California has flipped sides in recent decades (beginning in the 1990's) and became a Democratic-voting state, having elected statewide liberals such as Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to the Senate. The latter is known for being one of the most liberal members of the U.S. Senate and has been active in left-leaning operations and progressive campaigns. Just as recently as 2003, Democrats controlled all but one elected statewide office and the legislature while Republican-appointed judges held all but one seat in the state supreme court. Since then, California has been moving back towards centrism re-electing its Republican governor and another Republican to a statewide office. Voters continue to vote down tax increases and expansion of government programs.