(September 6) At present, half of San Bernardino County’s cities lean Republican and half lean toward the Democratic Party, the Sentinel’s examination of political registration data available from the registrar of voters shows.
Throughout the 1990s and well into the 2000s, political registration in San Bernardino County favored the Party of Lincoln. But four years ago, Democrats eclipsed the GOP in terms of sheer numbers of registered voters throughout the county. Today, with a total of 857,210 registered voters, 333,162, or 38.86 percent are registered as Democrats. 300,361, or 35.03 percent are registered Republicans.
In two of the county’s five supervisorial districts, the Republicans yet hold an edge in voter registration. The Democrats have greater numbers in the other three districts.
In the First Supervisorial District, there are a total of 167,558 voters. 57,364, or 34.22 percent, are Democrats and 64,313, or 38.27 percent, are Republicans.
In the Second Supervisorial District, there are 192,217 total voters, 72,881 or 37.91 percent of whom are Democrats and 70,432 or 36.63 percent of whom are Republicans.
In the Third Supervisorial District, there are 189,077 total voters, with 63,814 or 33.75 registered as Democrats and 75,844 or 40.11 registered as Republicans.
In the Fourth Supervisorial District, there are 158,800 total registered voters, of whom 65,788 or 41.42 percent are Democrats and 52,007 or 32.75 percent are Republicans.
In the Fifth Supervisorial District 149,558 voters are registered. 73,315 or 49.02 percent are affiliated with the Democratic Party and 37,765 or 24.95 are Republicans.
The county has 24 incorporated cities. Twelve of those have more voters who identify themselves as Democrats than voters registered as Republicans. In the other twelve cities, there are more Republicans than Democrats. Not surprisingly, in the county’s more affluent cities – Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Redlands and Big Bear – the Republicans are in ascendency. In most of the county’s economically challenged cities such as San Bernardino, Adelanto, Barstow, Needles, Rialto and Colton, the Democrats predominate. One exception is Hesperia, which despite a core of impoverished residents, yet leans slightly in favor of the GOP.
In Adelanto, which boasts 9,038 total registered voters, 4,384, or 48.5 percent, are Democrats. 1,915 or 21.19 percent are Republicans.
Of Apple Valley’s 36,323 total registered voters, 10,380 or 28.57 percent are registered Democrats and 16,297 or 44.86 percent are Republicans.
In Barstow, where 8,452 voters are registered, 3,468 or 41.03 percent are Democrats and 2,435 or 28.81 percent are Republicans.
In Big Bear, of its 2,785 total voters, 667 or 23.95 percent are Democrats and 1,443 or 52 percent are Republicans. Big Bear is the only city in the county where more than half of the voters are affiliated with the GOP.
Chino’s 31,762 total voters include 12,465 or 39.24 percent who are registered Democrats and 11,640 or 36.64 percent who are Republicans.
In Chino Hills 11,918 or 31.63 percent of its 37,678 total voters are registered as Democrats. 15,307 or 40.62 percent identify themselves as being members of the Party of Lincoln.
In Colton, 19,968 are registered to vote. 9,986 or 50.01 percent are registered Democrats. 4,993 or 25 percent are Republicans. Colton is one of two county cities in which Democrats account for more than half of the voters.
Of Fontana’s 72,747 voters, 35,130 or 48.29 percent are Democrats and 17,860 or 24.55 percent are Republicans.
In Grand Terrace, of its 6,585 total voters, 2,426, or 36.84 percent, are Democrats and 2,572, or 39.06 percent, are Republicans.
In Hesperia, 12,508 or 34.28 percent of its 36,483 total voters are Democrats. 13,823 or 37.89 percent are Republicans.
In Highland, where 22,996 are registered to vote, 8,779 or 38.176 percent are Democrats and 8,570 or 37.267 percent are Republicans. Highland is the city in the county where Democratic vs. Republican registration is most evenly matched.
Of the 10,430 total voters in Loma Linda, 3,416 or 32.75 percent identify themselves as Democrats and 3,748 or 35.93 are registered as Republicans.
In Montclair approaching half of its 12,776 total voters, 6,387 or 49.99 percent, define themselves as Democrats and 2,855 or 22.34 percent are declared Republicans.
Of Needles’ 1,903 voters, 768 or 40.35 percent are Democrats and 546 or 28.69 percent are Republicans.
In Ontario 27,667 or 46.77 percent of its 59,153 total voters are Democrats and 16,677 or 28.19 percent are Republicans.
In Rancho Cucamonga, more voters – 86,906 – are registered than in any other city in the county. 30,856 or 35.5 percent are registered as Democrats. 34,233 or 39.39 percent are registered Republicans.
In Redlands, among its 38,299 total voters are 12,930 Democrats, accounting for 33.76 of the electorate. 16,201 or 42.3 percent of the city’s voters are Republicans.
In Rialto well over half of the city’s 38,729 voters – 20,068 or 51.81 percent – are Democrats. 9,075 or 23.43 percent are Republicans.
In San Bernardino there are 77,839 registered to vote with 35,669 or 45.82 percent identified as Democrats and 22,214 or 28.54 percent as Republicans.
Twentynine Palms has 5,322 total voters, of whom 1,464 or 27.51 percent are Democrats and 2,174 or 40.85 percent are Republicans.
In Upland, its 37,868 voters include 13,335 or 35.21 percent Democrats and 15,387 or 40.63 percent Republicans.
Victorville’s 42,511 voters number 18,478 or 43.46 percent Democrats and 12,367 or 29.09 percent Republicans.
In Yucaipa, of its 27,367 total voters, 7,540 or 27.55 percent are Democrats and 13,294 or 48.57 percent are Republicans.
In Yucca Valley, which hosts 9,693 voters, the town counts 2,645 or 27.28 percent registered Democrats and 4,264 or 43.99 percent Republicans.
There are party affiliations in San Beranrdino County other than Republican and Democrat, including American Independent, Americans Elect, Green, Libertarian and Peace and Freedom. Voters can also register without party affiliation. In San Bernardino County overall, 180,721 voters or 21.08 percent have no party affiliation.