Is Rancho Cordova, California a Liberal City?

Rancho Cordova, California is a suburb in Sacramento County. I had the lovely opportunity to live there last summer and experience its culture. As a Liberal myself I enjoyed the culture immensely.

Rancho Cordova, California is a liberal city. Rancho Cordova, California has voted Democrat in its presidential elections since the 1992 election. Its current political leaders are heavily left leaders and are strongly supported by the community members of Rancho Cordova, California.

As someone who loved living in Rancho Cordova, I have a lot to say about its political trends. I had a chance to talk with a lot of the people in the community and hear about their understanding of local politics. Read on to hear more about Rancho Cordova’s political history.

Rancho Cordova’s Voting Trends

Rancho Cordova has a history of voting Democrat. They have voted Democrat consistently since the 1992 Presidential election. In the past three elections, Rancho Cordova has gone so far as winning on the Democrat side with more than a 10% margin. These results show a political position that is held within the city.

Rancho Cordova during the 2020 election was recorded as 61.4% voted as Democrat and 36.1% voted Republican and 2.5% voted independent.

Rancho Cordova has supported other offices in holding Democrat leaders. Rancho Cordova has voted Democrat for their Governor and Senator participants for years. This truly shows a devotion to liberal values.

Rancho Cordova is currently in California’s 7th congressional district. Their current representative is Ami Bera who is a strong Democratic leader.

Rancho Cordova has had a Democrat representative since 1959. This shows that Rancho Cordova craves a representative with a liberal background.

Before Ami Bera came into the office of the representative for the 7th congressional district of California, George Miller held this position. George Miller was the representative for Rancho Cordova for a total of 38 years. He entered office in 1975 and stayed in office until 2013 when he voluntarily retired from politics.

George Miller was a popular representative. He had connections with some very powerful people in politics. Nancy Pelosi considered him her right-hand man. He was also considered the most liberal person in politics during his time in office.

41% of Rancho Cordova is registered as a Democrat, while 28% is registered as Republican. The remaining 31% is registered as independent. This is a positive change for independents because back in 2016 only 24% were independent and 35% of Rancho Cordova was registered, as Republican.

Rancho Cordova Political Scandal

Rancho Cordova had a very difficult decision in 2016 when it was time to reelect its representative. Their current representative Ami Bera was caught in a huge political scandal. It was the first time in a while that Rancho Cordova came close to changing political parties from Democrat to Republican due to this scandal.

Ami Bera’s father, Babulal Bera, was caught funneling in money for his son’s campaigns. Babulal Bera, was 83 years old when he got in trouble for this crime, which made headlines.

Babulal Bera supported Ami Bera as a candidate for representative of the 7th district of California and wanted him to be able to win the election. He decided to recruit a number of donors to contribute to the campaign. He was found to have earned over $200,000 from a single donor.

This may seem like a story of a supportive father, but there is an election rule that you can not give more than $2,400 to a campaign. Ami Bera’s father gave more than the allotted amount and hid it from his son.

By committing this act he was able to give his son an unfair advantage over other competitors. Babulal Bera was sentenced to spend a year and a month in prison only three months before Ami Bera would be placed to vote on reelection.

Political trend followers did not believe that Ami Bera would have a chance of reelection. Many believed that there was no way that Ami Bera could not have known about the embezzlement and that the only reason he wasn’t in prison was that he let his father take the fall.

The media was brutal to Ami Bera and it looked like the end of his political career. Yet, there was one thing that worked in his favor. He was running in the district where Rancho Cordova resides. Rancho Cordova’s strong political stance on Democrat leaders was able to help Ami Bera enter back into office. This shows the political strength Democrats have in Rancho Cordova.

Political History of Rancho Cordova

Rancho Cordova was a gold rush town. It was originally called Mathew Crossing. The town grew with the influx of miners who were hoping to find their fortune on the west coast.

Rancho Cordova was where the post office for the entire Sacramento area was located. The city did not truly become alive, though, until after the miners left the area. When the miners began leaving Rancho Cordova received several roads and a railroad. This brought life back into the area of land.

After the gold rush, a new economy entered Rancho Cordova. Orchards and vineyards became the main source of income in the area. To this day Rancho Cordova is known for their fresh wine. The vineyards were so good during the early 1900s that their wine was served in the White House.

During the Great Depression Rancho Cordova struggled to make ends meet, because they suffered a great drought, which crippled the land that kept them in economic success. This was also when California received a property tax, which made vineyards and orchards harder to maintain.

The name of the city switched to Rancho Cordova shortly after WW2, because a new post office entered the city. They decided to name the post office after the most profitable vineyard in the area, which was called the Cordova Vinyard after the city of Cordoba in Spain. This ended up changing the name of the city.

Rancho Cordova was put on the map, though, because of their great political community spirit. Rancho Cordova came up with a new system of bringing different organizations that worked on community service together.

They created the Cordova Community Council. This was a place where organizations such as the fire department, the post office, the Chamber of Commerce, and other community representatives could get together and share their goals and dreams for the community so they all could work together in unity.

This council was an inspiration for other communities and it also made Rancho Cordova a very pleasant place to live. It had great development at an accelerated rate with these organizations working together.

Rancho Cordova’s Current Mayor

Rancho Cordova is an amazing community with a high political spirit. They run their local politics a little differently than the normal community. They run their local government as a council.

Rancho Cordova votes five people into the council and then every year one person is chosen to act as mayor for the year.

Overall, though, the mayor is used mainly to host the meetings and get the overall opinion of the council, because they take care of the political matters together.

The current council member leading as mayor is Donald Terry. Donald Terry is a Democrat. He has been on the city council since 2008, beloved by his community.

Donald Terry is a Community Reinvestment Act Officer. He brings his knowledge of money and the economy into his work to support the community in the office.

Rancho Cordova’s Other Council Members

The other council members are Linda Budge, David M. Sander, Siri Pulipati, and Garrett Gatewood. All of these council members of the Democratic Party except for David M. Sander.

David M. Sander has been with the city council since it was first organized in 2003. Therefore, he has a strong relationship with the community and knows all the ins and outs of the city council.

Linda Budge is acting right now as the vice mayor. She also is one of the founding members of the city council and has been actively involved in the community of Rancho Cordova. Linda Budge prides herself on being involved in one way or another with every organization for social growth in Rancho Cordova.

Siri Pulipati was the first Indian American woman to be on the Rancho Cordova Council and she has made great moves toward equality. Siri Pulipati is an engineer and she works very closely with local schools to encourage girls to enter the STEM field. Her position on the council has helped her with her goal to increase diversity in STEM and bring about a new tomorrow.

Garrett Gatewood is also a large step forward in diversity in the Cordova Council. Garrett Gatewood was the first African American to be voted in and lead as mayor. He has advocated for support for the African American community of Rancho Cordova and was recognized in The Sacramento Bee as one of the top 25 most influential African American leaders in the Sacramento region.