[reaperducer]

folks flee Democrat-run cities due to high taxes and mismanagement and move elsewhere, but then continue voting Democrat

This does seem to be the case.

If you look at the voting statistics for cities where Californians are fleeing -- Boise, Las Vegas, Reno, Salt Lake City, etc -- those cities are rapidly turning blue.

But I don't know if they continue voting Democrat "to bring back" their old laws and lifestyle so much as they're just used to voting a particular way and continue to do so.

There don't seem to be a lot of people who put effort into making informed voting choices on a candidate-by-candidate basis and just go for whatever party they voted for last time.

[milkytron]

> But I don't know if they continue voting Democrat "to bring back" their old laws and lifestyle so much as they're just used to voting a particular way and continue to do so.

I think the way people vote tends to reflect their beliefs. And generally, beliefs don't change often or drastically.

[reaperducer]

I think the way people vote tends to reflect their beliefs. And generally, beliefs don't change often or drastically.

I see a lot of people who vote based on how they've always voted, rather than based on their actual beliefs. It's part of the tribalism of it all.

Three data points:

In West Virginia there is an expression called Yellow Dog Democrat, which means that the person would vote for a yellow dog before he voted for a Republican.

In Chicago, for the better part of the last century, the policies and positions a lot of the so-called Democratic Party politicians would be considered to be very Republican in other states.

One set of my in-laws lives what would be considered by many to be a redneck lifestyle, deep in the woods, surrounded by guns and beer and American flags, and cobbled-together vehicles, and talking smack about Bernie Sanders being a Communist and such. But guess what? When they go to vote, they vote Democrat simply because they always have.

It's the reason in some elections in some places you have the option (or sometimes the requirement) of pushing one button and voting for everyone on that party's ticket, rather than being forced to choose each candidate on their own merits.

[dodobirdlord]

There’s not really a such thing as a candidate-by-candidate basis, certainly not these days. Candidates are reliant on party infrastructure, endorsements, and fundraising. So when the time comes to line up votes the party speaker or governor or whoever is the acting voice of the party says “jump” and everyone jumps. Voting for a Republican or a Democrat means voting for one more vote for the party line on anything that counts, so you might as well pick which party line you like better and move on with life. It’s sad that this perversely incentivizes things to not change, since it makes party endorsements all the more important.

[dsfyu404ed]

I think a lot of the problem that "democrat" and "republican" are relative to everyone else in the area whereas the official party platform that candidates have to work toward to get $$$ is more or less nationally homogeneous.

Your neighbors in SF might think you're Newt Gingrich but relative to your new neighbors in Boise you may as well be Bernie Sanders.