Leaning Right: Top DC-Area Zip Codes Supporting John McCain

• October 27, 2008
• 4 Comments
• Lists & Rankings

by Mark Wellborn

With a week to go before the election, UrbanTurf decided to do some research to find out which DC-area zip codes are supporting John McCain and which are supporting Barack Obama. Today, we take a look at the top three zip codes in DC, Maryland and Virginia that look to be favoring Senator McCain, and on Wednesday we will do the same for Senator Obama.

To determine the top three, we looked at those zip codes that gave the largest percentage of their overall political contributions over the last two years to Senator McCain relative to other candidates and groups.

For example, the first zip code on our list, in Great Falls, saw about $2 million given in total to all candidates and groups, Republican or Democrat. Of that $2 million, 11 percent went to John McCain specifically. It turns out that 11 percent is a very high percentage for a presidential candidate, making this zip code #1 in Northern Virginia.

Note: The contribution data for this article was based on information recorded by OpenSecrets.org as of October 26, 2008. The website is constantly updated with new contribution amounts, so the numbers and rankings in this piece are subject to change.

The zip code that includes Great Falls is one of Virginia’s wealthiest. While the total contributions to all political candidates (approximately $2 million) pale in comparison to other parts of the state, 22066, an area that traditionally votes Republican, led the way for McCain support in Virginia with 11 percent of contributions going to the Republican candidate in 2007 and 2008.

McLean, Virginia is home to Newt Gingrich, the CIA and some of the highest-priced homes in the DC area. So it probably comes as no surprise that the two zip codes that make up McLean are donating a large amount of money to the McCain campaign. Of the $10 million given in total in 2007-2008, approximately 10 percent went to the Arizona senator’s presidential run.

Given its close proximity to DC, it is somewhat unexpected that the zip code which includes Old Town and most of southern Alexandria made the list. However, almost 10 percent of the $3.9 million in political contributions from 22314 in 2007-2008 went to the McCain camp. This is particularly interesting for an area where a Republican presidential candidate has not won since 1980. 

Home to the U.S. Naval Academy and the headquarters of the Maryland Republican Party, this Annapolis zip code is a McCain stronghold. Senator McCain is the leading recipient for political contributions from this area, getting 11 percent of the total given in 2007-2008.

This zip code encompasses the residential section of Bethesda that UrbanTurf profiled back in June. Like its neighbor Chevy Chase, the homes are large and expensive and the area attracts a similar demographic of DC’s upper echelon of corporate lawyers, journalists and businessmen. Of the $2.4 million that residents gave to political candidates during 2007 and 2008, almost seven percent went to Senator McCain.

Potomac is the Maryland equivalent of McLean, Virginia. Huge houses line most blocks and the people who live there are quite wealthy. However, unlike McLean, only five percent of the political contributions from this area (which ranked 7th on CNNMoney.com’s list of top earning towns) went to John McCain. But that’s still enough to consider it McCain Country for those Maryland zip codes near DC.

If there is a hotbed (and we use that term loosely) for Republican support in DC proper it is here. 20016 includes the neighborhoods of Spring Valley and AU Park and is home to Karl Rove and formerly George W. Bush before his presidential years. Approximately five percent of the $6.69 million donated to political candidates from this area in 2007 and 2008 went to John McCain.

This condo-heavy district includes Gallery Place and the Penn Quarter and could be considered DC’s true downtown zip code. Of the $2.9 million given to political campaigns in 2007 and 2008 from this area, just under five percent went to McCain’s presidential run. The fact that the White House also falls within this zip code is completely coincidental.

Made up largely of the Woodley Park and Cleveland Park neighborhoods, this zip code rounds out our DC list. While it represents the second highest level of total political contributions in the last two years ($6 million) from a DC zip code, just about four percent of that money went to John McCain.

4 Comments

1. sg said at 2:02 pm on Wednesday October 29, 2008:

   Umm, no offense, but did you compare these to the amounts donated to Barack Obama in these zip codes?  I would find it very hard to believe that many of these zip codes didn’t donate far more to the Obama camp, and therefore are not actually “leaning right” but just wealthy enough to have enough people donating to both.  Could you followup with an identical analysis of Obama donations in the same zip codes?

1. sg said at 2:06 pm on Wednesday October 29, 2008:

   never mind, I stand corrected!!

1. Evan said at 7:55 pm on Thursday October 30, 2008:

   Wow, no Clifton? I’ve lived there for 12 years and thought it was full of conservatives, but apparently it’s more liberal than I thought…

1. Matty D said at 1:49 pm on Monday November 17, 2008:

   Time to move out, right-wing crazies!

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