Breaking down Lodi votes

Democrats stick together on Eastside; Republicans move west

Voters in Lodi's Eastside largely supported President Obama in the November election, while the rest of the city chose Sen. John McCain.

Following Obama's 100-day benchmark as president, the News-Sentinel did a precinct-by-precinct analysis of how Lodians voted in the election. The results show that, with a few exceptions, local residents appear to have voted along socioeconomic lines.

The Lodi neighborhoods showing the greatest support for each candidate show a great dichotomy in terms of demographics, and even appearance.

One west Lodi neighborhood is quiet, with most residents presumably at work or inside their stately homes with manicured lawns. The neighborhood from Lower Sacramento Road to the Woodbridge Irrigation District canal, and between Kettleman Lane to just south of Vine Street, had more people vote for McCain in the November election than anywhere else in Lodi.

While nearly all precincts west of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks supported McCain, this neighborhood was the only one to exceed 70 percent.

"Maybe it's the backbone of the people who live here," Magic Lane resident Ortrud Goiorani said. "The upper-class neighborhoods vote Republican. That's the only thing my instinct tells me."

Across town lies a much older neighborhood with small homes on small lots. Many Hispanics and some Pakistanis live there. The commercial area on South Central Avenue is the heart of the neighborhood, which generally lies from the Lodi Avenue to Vine Street, from the railroad tracks to Cherokee Lane. This neighborhood, which includes much of Lodi's industrial area east of Highway 99, showed the greatest support in Lodi for Obama, at almost 69 percent.

"He said he wanted to help out Hispanics," said Juana Chavez, a special education aide at Heritage Elementary School in the heart of the neighborhood with the greatest Obama support. "That's probably why a lot of them voted for Obama."

On the city's west side, Matt Howen, mowing his front lawn on Vienna Drive, said it didn't make sense to him why voters were so excited about Obama.

"I don't really understand why, except he's black and different from the last eight years," Howen said.

On why his neighborhood supported McCain, Howen said, "I guess a lot of people here are paranoid of Obama," adding that they were afraid he would ruin the country.

University of the Pacific professor Keith Smith said it's not uncommon to find a "residential sorting pattern," where people choose to have like-minded people as neighbors.

"One of the things that is increasingly important is the political beliefs of those around them," said Smith, who teaches about campaigning and political institutions. "Republicans are more likely to live near Republicans, and Democrats live near more Democrats,"

Smith said that economics is a powerful indicator of how people will vote. Lower-income people tend to vote Democratic, and wealthier voters usually are Republican, he said.

Contrary to popular belief, it has been proven that candidates' positions on social issues are not an indicator of voter preference, Smith said. After the 2000 election, Democrats were afraid that social issues would determine voting patterns, he said, but it's not the case.

Joe Garcia, who lives on East Tokay Street, said his neighborhood may have supported Obama because he's a "Moreno" �" someone who is neither black nor white.

Goiorani, who lives in the same pro-McCain neighborhood as Howen, said it's too early to tell how good a job Obama has done in his first 100 days since entering the White House on Jan. 20.

"I feel he has his heart in the right place, but he might be taking on too much, too soon, too fast," Goiorani said. "He really is sincere about wanting to fix this country."

On the Eastside, Rosa Cardenas, an 18-year neighborhood resident who owns a business on South Central Avenue, said she's still waiting for Obama to come through with racial reforms.

"Hispanic people want racial reform, and they want amnesty," Cardenas said. "And Obama promised (that) in the future he would do something."

Hispanics who are not American citizens don't qualify for social security, but they work and pay taxes, Cardenas said.

Garcia, who lives on the Eastside, said he's disappointed that Obama gave large bailout money to banks and the auto industry.

Smith, the political science professor, says that 100 days isn't enough time to make a significant impact.

"He put his stamp on the administration, where possible, did some quick changes. But I don't know if we could have expected much more," Smith said. "With a tanking economy and world events outside the control, he's done what you would expect a president to do.

"His leadership is going to be slower in terms of decision making, but that's because he's making an effort to hearing all sides of an issue."

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Lodi residents’ thoughts on Obama’s presidency