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California Exodus: Half of State’s Voters Have Considered Leaving
Half of the Golden State’s registered voters admit to having given serious (24%) or some (28%) consideration recently to leaving California. According to the latest UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies Poll, only modest differences are seen across most major regional or demographic subgroups of the state.
Still, researchers found there are significant partisan and ideological differences when examining the opinions of voters giving serious consideration to moving out of state. The poll found that Republicans and conservatives were nearly three times as likely to have seriously considered moving as their Democratic or liberal counterparts, 40% compared with 14%.
The Berkeley IGS poll’s Mark DiCamillo told the L.A. Times, “If the people who are giving serious consideration for leaving are indeed going to follow through, the state will continue to get bluer and bluer. That has huge political implications.”
The high cost of housing (71%) was cited as the most common reason given by voters for wanting to leave California. However, high taxes (58%) and the state’s political culture (46%) were also prominently mentioned, particularly by Republicans and conservatives.
Other key poll findings include:
– Half the of state’s registered voters (50%) now describe California as “one of the best places” to live, up from 43% who felt this way in 2013. Democrats and liberals were nearly three times as likely as Republicans and conservatives to describe California as one of the best places to live.
– Seven in 10 voters in the San Francisco Bay Area (70%) and Los Angeles County (70%) think California is a land of opportunity, this declines to 55% among voters in the Central Valley.
– 72% of voters under age 30 believe California is a land of opportunity, fewer than two in three say this across each of the four other age segments.
– Unaffordable housing costs were cited as a reason for thinking about leaving by 82% of the 18- to 29-year-olds, and nearly 80% of 30- to 39-year-olds.
For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Kaiser
