How Palisadians Voted in the 2020 General Election

By LILY TINOCO | Reporter

The following is an analysis of the final canvas of the November 3, 2020, General Election of the precincts that constitute Pacific Palisades.

According to Mike Sanchez, who handles media and communications at Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “the Palisades is a neighborhood of [LA] and therefore doesn’t have official boundaries that would be found in the Statement of Vote Cast by community.”

This means the Palisades’ vote was recorded by precinct. Of the eight precincts, most fall within the boundaries of the 90272 zip code while others fall within the Santa Monica Canyon 90402 zip code. In total, there were 22,035 registered voters and a turnout of 19,192 voters.

Palisadian Joe Halper said this election saw the highest voter turnout since 1900. When looking at percentage of voter turnout, the Palisades exceeded Los Angeles County as a whole.

“This makes the voting power of the Palisades greater than the percent of their registration,” Halper said to the Palisadian-Post.

Within the Palisades, all of the endorsed Democratic candidates won their contests, with the Palisades voting more blue than the rest of the county.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden received 72.4% of the vote within Pacific Palisades; Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, received 23.6%.

In the race to become Los Angeles District Attorney, George Gascon received 54.8% of the vote and Jackie Lacey received 45.2%.

In the contest for the 33rd United States Congressional District, incumbent Congressman Ted Lieu received 69.8% of the vote to Republican James P. Bradley’s 30.2%.

Incumbent Assemblymember Richard Bloom received 80.3% of the vote in the 50th State Assembly District contest, besting Republican Will Heiss, who received 19.7% of the vote.

In addition to 12 statewide propositions, Los Angeles had a number of county-specific measures on the ballot.

Palisadians approved Measure RR, with more than 60% leaning yes toward the initiative. Measure RR authorizes Los Angeles Unified School District to issue billions in bonds to update classrooms, labs and technology for 21st century learning, implement COVID-19 facility safety standards, address school inequities, and more.

Palisadians also approved Measure J, with 56% voting yes. Measure J requires the county to budget no less than 10% of the county’s locally generated, unrestricted revenues in the general fund to address disproportionate impacts of racial injustice through community investment and alternatives to incarceration.

Statistics placed the community in the 99th percentile of the nation as to median income, cost of living and educational achievement.

The median age of the population in the Palisades was 47.6—an increase of 3.7 years when compared to the 2016 general election.