Why do Westchester and Nassau vote so differently?

[Anonymous]

Both are affluent, educated inner suburban counties.

But Biden won Westchester by 36 points, and Nassau by only 10. Nassau went R in the gubernatorial race.

Why the divergence?

[Anonymous]

Long Island is isolated from mainland America. To get to the mainland, other than boats, you need to traverse the densest city in the country. That makes it insular.

[Anonymous]

Nassau is more white, less Black, less Hispanic and has fewer people with college degrees than Westchester.

[Anonymous]

Not a huge difference though.

Nassau is slightly whiter than Westchester (57% vs 52%). Westchester has a slightly higher percentage of college graduates than Nassau (51% vs. 48%).

[Anonymous]

I'm from Long Island and think wealthy conservatives specifically move to Nassau over Westchester bc they perceive it to be less liberal. Like the very wealthy town I grew up near had a perception of being the place catholic hedge funders specifically move to.

And while there are tons of progressive reforms jews, there is a much larger percentage of conservative/orthodox jews in Nassau that are not liberal in the slightest and are fans of the GOP pro-Israel or bust stance

LI has way more of a "take the 4 kids to church or synagogue in their best dresses" vibe if you catch my drift.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, it looks like there's cultural and political self-sorting going on.

And yeah, Jewish communities are different. The biggest Jewish areas in Nassau are the Orthodox Five Towns and very Persian Great Neck. Westchester, in contrast, has a more liberal Jewish population.

[Anonymous]

It’s self selection like we get around here. It’s like asking why lower MoCo is so much more liberal than Nova. Lots of conservatives won’t move to MoCo and lots of liberals won’t move to VA. We all have options, like the NYC commuters.

[Anonymous]

Westchester has more journalists, Long Island has more car dealers.

Westchester has more Wall Street lawyers who went to Yale, Long Island has more personal injury lawyers who went to Hofstra.

White ethnic boomers who grew up in Long Island and went to elite colleges moved to Westchester to raise their families.

White ethnic boomers who grew up in the outer boroughs moved to Long Island to raise their families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s self selection like we get around here. It’s like asking why lower MoCo is so much more liberal than Nova. Lots of conservatives won’t move to MoCo and lots of liberals won’t move to VA. We all have options, like the NYC commuters.

NOVA is much more liberal than Long Island though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s self selection like we get around here. It’s like asking why lower MoCo is so much more liberal than Nova. Lots of conservatives won’t move to MoCo and lots of liberals won’t move to VA. We all have options, like the NYC commuters.

NOVA is much more liberal than Long Island though.

Pah!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Westchester has more journalists, Long Island has more car dealers.

Westchester has more Wall Street lawyers who went to Yale, Long Island has more personal injury lawyers who went to Hofstra.

White ethnic boomers who grew up in Long Island and went to elite colleges moved to Westchester to raise their families.

White ethnic boomers who grew up in the outer boroughs moved to Long Island to raise their families.

This is so...rude. As if living around white ethnic personal injury lawyers would be the absolute worst? I don't know why I returned to these boards to add some input from my life experience but thanks for reminding me why I stay away

[Anonymous]

Who said better or worse? Westchester and LI just have different vibes.