On Second Thought, Maybe California Doesn’t Matter After All

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


Just a quick update: a few days ago I suggested that California might be fertile territory for Rick Santorum because California Republicans are pretty hardcore conservatives. And they are. Nevertheless, Conor Friedersdorf points out that our delegate apportionment rules work pretty heavily in Romney’s favor:

Perhaps he’s right. I’d never have predicted Santorum would get this far. Still, I’m willing to buy Drum lunch at Orange County’s finest purveyor of tacos if Santorum wins more California delegates than Romney. The vast majority of Golden State delegates (159, to be exact) are apportioned by congressional district. Each district has three delegates, and it’s winner-take-all within the district.

Click the link to read the rest, but the takeaway is pretty simple: Santorum might well win in the roughly one-third of California’s congressional districts (mostly inland and in Northern California) that are solidly right-wing, but he won’t do so well in, say, congressional districts in the Bay Area that have smaller numbers of Republicans but still get three delegates each.

So there you have it. Since I mentioned this the other day I figured I should provide an update. California probably isn’t as much in play as I thought. Conor, the tacos are on me.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate