A Tale of 2 Cities - Bridgeport & Westport
Different Demographics Same Voting Percentages
Bridgeport and Westport have very little in common except how they voted in the 2024 Presidential Election!!
In the 2024 Presidential election, 72.75% of the voters in Bridgeport voted for Harris and 26.15% voted for Trump. In Westport, 71.41% voted for Harris and 27.16% voted for Trump. These results are nearly identical.
In New Canaan, which is socioeconomically similar to Westport, 55.76% voted for Harris and 42.16% voted for Trump. This is approximately a 15% difference in favor of Trump between Westport and New Canaan. In the middle-class/working class towns of Shelton and Oxford the numbers shift more in Trump’s favor. Trump garnered over 58% of the votes and over 60% in Oxford.
The Congressional race results were very similar with a few exceptions. In Bridgeport, incumbent Jim Himes outperformed Harris by almost 3% and in New Canaan, Dr. Michael Goldstein outperformed Trump by 4.4%. Beyond that the results were almost the same.
A previous article, “Democrats Have Abandoned Working Class Americans” offers some insight that explains the results of the election.
The Democrat party is controlled by the Brahmin Left a group of highly educated progressive left thinking individuals.
“According to Thomas Pikkety a French economist, the Democrat party has been a party that has shifted its base from the party of slavery and the party of poor whites, and has evolved through the party of the New Deal and to its current state of being the party of intellectual elites and minorities alike. (see Article)
One group that has been excluded from and overlooked by this new Democrat party is the working class. They get up every day and go to work earn a pay check usually at a job that they cannot zoom into and watch their purchasing power shrink daily from rampant inflation. The shift in votes across the country (except CT) were a referendum to the abandoned working class.
The Green energy policies that were on this “elitist” agenda of the Green New Deal was also destructive to the working class that actually have to pay for their energy consumption.
Westport Has Gone Left
Westport, based on the data, has become a town of Brahmin Left voters. The demographic is comprised of highly educated progressive left thinking voters who voted for Harris and subscribe to the progressive left’s thinking ideology. Per capita income in Westport ($131,155) is over four times that of Bridgeport ($30,251). The poverty rate in Bridgeport is almost four times that of Westport.
Yet, for Bridgeport, a mostly minority and diverse ethnic community that is significantly poorer, the city votes just like Westport. This is despite the fact that Bridgeport is negatively impacted by the consequences of the liberal policies of the progressive left.
In Westport, the economic consequences of progressive liberal policies that have resulted in higher energy costs, inflation, massive illegal immigration and rising crime have not impacted the Westport voters to make any changes in local or federal leadership.
In Bridgeport, higher energy costs, inflation, increased crime and massive illegal immigration and one of the worst school districts in the state all has a direct impact to the citizens of Bridgeport. However, because their ideology is so linked to the Democrat party, most Bridgeport residents have ignored or overlooked these adverse consequences and still vote Democrat. We saw it at the polls - the party machine had their printed palm cards for Row A and the cheering section at the polls.
In New Canaan, which is socioeconomically affluent but not as wealthy as Westport, there is a mixture of Brahmin Left progressives and highly educated conservative voters. This resulted in shifting the vote by approximately 15% in favor of the Republicans. However the Brahmin Left does outnumber their more conservative counterparts by 13.6%.
The more working class and middle class towns of Shelton and Oxford are adversely affected by the policies of the Brahmin Left including inflation, with higher energy prices. They do not support the social policies of the progressives which include the Public Benefit charge of 29% that is being added to their monthly utility bill. Many of these voters supported Trump because of the impact that Progressive Left policies had on them directly.
The harmful policies of the Progressive Left in Connecticut will be defeated when voters in cities like Bridgeport realize that it is time to change course and vote for candidates who will reverse the economic harm of the Progressive Left. The hope is that they will see a direct improvement in their lives with a Republican controlled federal government and make course corrections as early as next year’s local races throughout the state.
The Brahmin Left of Westport is unlikely to change. Economic success under the Trump Administration will hopefully wake up the middle of the road voters who vote Democrat and lead to turning Connecticut from a blue state to a purple, red state in the midterms.
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Dr. Michael Goldstein
Source of Economic Data:
Westport Income
Bridgeport Income
New Canaan Income
Oxford Income
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Important to point out the effect 15+ yrs of QE/ZIRP&NIRP have had on ASSET PRICES. Upper class towns of Greenwich/Westport/New Canaan/etc LOVE the unearned free money they’ve received from government. Why would they ever vote against it? Of course Himes Disease says these people would be ok with higher taxes. If your home(s), stocks, and bonds are artificially inflated, who cares if taxes go up a few extra basis points.