Mesa, the Most Conservative City in America?

November 17, 2015

Mesa, the Most Conservative City in America?

It holds true across the nation that when it comes to elections, research shows that the voters who go blue tend to live in more densely populated areas while the vast majority of the countryside votes red. While several attempts at an explanation as to why this is the case have been made, it’s a phenomenon that refuses to be pinned down to one particular factor.

In a recent study conducted by researchers at MIT and UCLA, the trend is pretty much across the board, unless you include Mesa, Arizona in the picture. With a population over 450.000, Mesa is the 38th-largest city in the United States, and after analyzing several years’ worth of public opinion surveys, the researchers concluded that the East Valley city has the most conservative values among cities with more than 250,000 residents.

The religious beginnings of the city most likely play a major role. Mesa began as a Mormon settlement in the late 19th century, and although Mormons only constitute 13 percent of the population today, the precedent has since attracted several like-minded people to the area.

mesa conservative guy The LDS Temple that remains at the heart of Mesa to this day serves as a continual reminder of the city’s religious roots. One might also argue that Arizona cities, in general, present an exception to the trend of left-leaning urbanites. In the last presidential election, Republican candidate Mitt Romney received 55% of the vote of all of Maricopa county.

Mesa is also a sprawling city, covering nearly 140 square miles, with twice the area of Washington, D.C. Residential homes have fewer stories and are separated by lawns, landscaping, roads and parking lots. While the exact reason may be difficult to pinpoint, and there are most likely several factors involved, an argument could be made that the effects of living in such an environment promote conservative values.

While the demographics and the political landscape continues to change in Arizona, especially in the Valley of the Sun, Mesa’s heritage will most likely continue to inform the values of its citizens.

Mesa has been a great city for our injury law firm, the location offers great flexibility in being able to serve clients in all of the east valley, Gilbert, Chandler and Queen Creek along with easy access to help clients with injury cases in Phoenix. We’re happy to be here and are looking forward to continue in watching the great city of Mesa flourish.

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