California:
Twenty-First District
Provided by National Journal --
Almanac of American Politics 2004
Fresno, in California's Central
Valley, between the flat Westlands and the Sierras, is a city
agricultural and industrial, middle American and ethnically
diverse. It is a creation of the industrial age, founded by the
Central Pacific Railroad; its city fathers bred the local wine
grape, developed the raisin industry and introduced the Smyrna
fig. These are not all of Fresno's crops, which include cotton,
lima beans, tomatoes, cantaloupes, plums, peaches and alfalfa.
Fresno County produces more farm products in dollar value than
any other county in the United States. Central Valley
agriculture is industrial in its precision, its thoroughness and
its ownership by large corporations: the vineyards outside
Fresno radiate in mechanical precision, with vines just 10 feet
apart and exposed to the relentless summer sun: nothing romantic
or quaint here. The city of Fresno started as a farm-marketing
center and as a tourists' stop-off point on the way to Yosemite
National Park. But it has long since grown out north, east and
west from its old downtown, and its economy has diversified.
The 21st Congressional District
covers most of Fresno County east of Fresno and Tulare County to
the south; 42% of the population is in Fresno County (the 21st
also includes part of the city of Fresno) and 58% in Tulare.
Here and there amid the farm fields are small cities-- Visalia
(the largest in the district), Tulare, Clovis, Reedley,
Porterville. Past Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks loom
the giant peaks of the Sierra Nevada, including Mount Whitney,
at 14,494 feet, the highest point in California and in the lower
48 states. This part of the Central Valley had vigorous growth
in the 1990s; the district is 43% Hispanic. The 21st is the new
district created by the 2001 redistricting after California
gained one seat in the 2000 Census and it is strongly
Republican. It may seem surprising that Democratic redistricters
gave the new seat to the other party, but they compensated by
making one Republican-held seat in Los Angeles safely
Democratic. Within the bounds of the 21st District George W.
Bush got 60% of the vote in 2000, his third highest percentage
in a California district.
District
Demographics
- District Size:
8,090 square miles
- Population in 2000:
639,088; 79.9% urban; 20.1% rural
- Median Household
Income: $36,047; 20.7% are below the
poverty line
- Occupation:
22.0% blue collar; 52.8% white collar; 25.2% gray collar;
10.6% military veterans
- Race/Ethnic Origin:
46.4% White, 2.1% Black, 4.9% Asian, 0.9% Amer. Indian, 0.1%
Hawaiian, 2.2% Two+ races, 0.2% Other, 43.4% Hispanic origin
- Ancestry:
7.7% German, 5.6% English, 5.5% Irish
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