Left Coast is a political expression that implies that the West Coast of the United States leans politically to the left. The implication is that with the exception of Alaska, the states of California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii tend to vote for the Democratic Party, particularly in Coastal California, the Eugene and Portland metropolitan areas in Oregon, the Puget Sound region in Washington, and most of Hawaii. It also suggests that most people who live in the West Coast region have a generally more liberal or progressive attitude than the rest of the country. The phrase plays on the fact that the West Coast is on the left of the United States when viewing a map with north oriented at the top. [1] The term also applies to British Columbia's place in Canada, for the same reasons. [2]
In the United States, the expression is used pejoratively by right-leaning people, but proudly by people on the left. Conservative NewsMax columnist James Hirsen writes the "Left Coast Report", which puts down Hollywood celebrities and their scandals as well as providing conservative political commentary. [3] He has also written a book, Tales from the Left Coast: True Stories of Hollywood Stars and Their Outrageous Politics. On the other side, the term is used by cartoonist Ted Rall as the name of his left-leaning political comic strip. [4] Writer, voiceover actor, and gay rights activist Ben Patrick Johnson calls his video blog Life on the Left Coast. [5] Fundraiser and CEO of San Francisco-based nonprofit Tides, Drummond Pike, maintains a CEO blog entitled Notes from the Left Coast. [6]
The term is also used in a neutral or non-political sense. The left coast has by far the most workers in STEM professions and will continue to be a leading tech hub for the United States. The gross product of the left coast was approximately $1.2 trillion. [7]
In Canada, the coastal strip of British Columbia, including Vancouver Island, is also referred to as the Left Coast. The use of the term "left coast" is not usually pejorative. For example, at the investiture to the Order of British Columbia of the painter Edward John Hughes by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Iona Campagnolo, in April 2006, she stated, "We have all occasionally heard of our beloved coast dismissed as the 'wet coast', the 'left' coast, even the 'rain coast', yet for most of us, these are 'terms of endearment'..." [8] [9]
Since 1992, the state of California has consistently voted Democratic in presidential elections. In the case of Oregon and Washington, and Hawaii, all three have voted Democratic since the 1988 presidential election. [10]
Virtually no Republicans have statewide office in those states. Oregon and Washington are notable for being especially consistent in electing Democratic governors, and Oregon in particular has the country's longest streak of Democratic governors. Additionally, in the 2022 House of Representatives elections, all congressional districts directly bordering the Pacific Ocean (including Alaska and Hawaii) were won by Democrats. [11]
Similarly in Canada, the coastal parts of British Columbia votes consistently for left leaning Members of Parliament such as Liberals and New Democrats, and for New Democrats as well as Greens provincially, though with some exceptions.
The Pacific Northwest, sometimes referred to as Cascadia, is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common conception includes the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Some broader conceptions reach north into Alaska and Yukon, south into northern California, and east into western Montana. Other conceptions may be limited to the coastal areas west of the Cascade and Coast mountains.
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. states of California, Oregon, and Washington, but it occasionally includes Alaska and Hawaii in bureaucratic usage. For example, the U.S. Census Bureau considers both states to be part of a larger U.S. geographic division.
The Pacific Coast Ranges are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although they are commonly thought to be the westernmost mountain range of the continental United States and Canada, the geologically distinct Insular Mountains of Vancouver Island lie farther west.
Kanakas were workers from various Pacific Islands employed in British colonies, such as British Columbia (Canada), Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Queensland (Australia) in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They also worked in California and Chile.
The Oregon Treaty was a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to the Oregon Country; the area had been jointly occupied by both Britain and the U.S. since the Treaty of 1818.
The human history of the west coast of North America is believed to stretch back to the arrival of the earliest people over the Bering Strait, or alternately along the ice free coastal islands of British Columbia (See, through the development of significant pre-Columbian cultures and population densities, to the arrival of the European explorers and colonizers. The west coast of North America today is home to some of the largest and most important companies in the world, as well as being a center of world culture.
The politics of the U.S. state of California form part of the politics of the United States. The politics are defined by the Constitution of California.
The Cascadia movement is a bioregional independence movement based in the Cascadia bioregion of western North America. Potential boundaries differ, with some drawn along existing political state and provincial lines, and others drawn along larger ecological, cultural, political, and economic boundaries.
The 2008 United States Senate election in Oregon was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Gordon H. Smith sought reelection to a third term. Smith was the only Republican Senator from the West Coast and the only Republican holding statewide office in Oregon. He was opposed by Democrat Jeff Merkley, the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, and David Brownlow of the Constitution Party of Oregon. Merkley won by a narrow margin, with Smith not conceding until two days after the election. Merkley became the first Democrat to win this seat since 1960, and since Smith was the only Republican holding statewide office in Oregon at the time, this was the first time since 1860 that no Republicans won or held statewide office in Oregon. Merkley's inauguration marked the first time since 1967 that Democrats held both of Oregon's United States Senate seats.
Like many other U.S. states, the politics of Oregon largely concerns regional issues. Oregon leans Democratic as a state, with both U.S. senators from the Democratic party, as well as four out of Oregon's six U.S. Representatives. The Democratic candidate for president has won in Oregon in every election since 1988. Both houses of Oregon's legislative assembly have been under Democratic control since the 2012 elections.
Frederick Theodore Rall III is an American columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author. His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and editorial-cartoon conventions. At their peak, Rall's cartoons appeared in approximately 100 newspapers around the United States. He was president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists from 2008 to 2009.
In American politics, a libertarian Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with political views that are relatively libertarian compared to the views of the national party.
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In U.S. politics, Democrat in name only (DINO) is a pejorative term used to describe politicians of the Democratic Party to indicate that their governing or legislating style is more like a member of the Republican Party.
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The Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture (PBHJV), previously Pacific Coast Joint Venture is a partnership established in 1991 between governments, organizations, and conservation groups along the Pacific Coast of the United States and Canada, established to protect and enhance wetlands important to migratory birds, within the framework of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). Participants include the provincial government of British Columbia in Canada, and the state governments of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington in the United States. The venture's scope covers an area from San Francisco Bay to Alaska, west of the Coast Mountains, and it was the first joint venture of the NAWMP to have an international scope.
The 2016 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, while Republicans retained control of Congress. This marked the first and most recent time Republicans won or held unified control of the presidency and Congress since 2004.
The "blue wall" is a term used by political pundits to refer to the 18 U.S. states and the District of Columbia that the Democratic Party won in each presidential election from 1992 to 2012. George W. Bush, the only Republican president elected during this time, was able to narrowly win the electoral college in 2000 (271) and 2004 (286) only by winning enough states outside of the blue wall to defeat his Democratic opponents, Al Gore and John Kerry, respectively.
The 2024 United States presidential election in Oregon is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, as part of the 2024 United States elections in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia will participate. Oregon voters will choose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote. The state of Oregon has eight electoral votes in the Electoral College, following reapportionment due to the 2020 United States census in which the state gained a seat.
The 2024 United States presidential election in Washington is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, as part of the 2024 United States elections in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia will participate. Washington voters will choose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote. The state of Washington has 12 electoral votes in the Electoral College, following reapportionment due to the 2020 United States census in which the state neither gained nor lost a seat.