Add to the demographic debacle the Republican party is facing over the next ten years the urbanization debacle the Repugs are also facing. The Seattle Times reported today that U.S. Census Bureau released yesterday population estimates showing King County (i.e., Seattle metropolitan area) saw remarkable population growth (37,000 net) for the year ending July 1, 2013, ranking it among the top four large counties in the nation for both the rate at which it added new residents and for the overall increase in population.
At the same time, the census data showed 11 of Washington state's counties suffered population declines -- all rural counties. According to the Seattle Times, "Several conditions make an area vulnerable to natural decrease, including an aging population, a low birth rate and a poor economy, which makes it difficult to retain or attract younger people."
Remember, Seattle just elected a gay mayor and a socialist (Kshama Sawant) to the City Council. Seattle is really, really blue. The rural counties in Washington are really, really red.
King County - in contrast to the rural counties - is Washington’s "economic engine," and after the latest three-year growth streak reached a population to 2,044,449 in 2013. In the 2012 election, the Democratic candidate for Governor (U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee) pretty easily defeated a moderate Republican candidate, with the overwhelming number of Dem votes coming from King County and Pierce County (City of Tacoma). The new census data shows that political trend will continue, especially since the rural counties are not only losing population but also -- young people. Soon Washington state will be as blue as California. Hopefully, that trend will have the same effect in Texas -- which the census data showed had two of the other top growth counties -- in urban areas.