Jean Guerrero: If Democrats want to hold Imperial County, they'll have to work for it
For Democrats who mistake demographics for destiny, Imperial County is a mystery. It's California's most heavily Latino county, and yet Republicans have been making gains here.
This isn't south Texas, where former President Donald Trump's appeal was rooted in cowboy-idolizing Tejano culture. This is Southern California. The GOP's allure here is more complicated.
About 200 miles southeast of Los Angeles, the still-blue county does have similarities to the Rio Grande Valley, such as proximity to Mexico and a rural economy. The sprawling fields of the Imperial Valley supply the country with winter vegetables such as lettuce and carrots.
More recently, it has become a leading source of renewable energy with its solar, wind and geothermal production. Imperial County is also the site of a new "gold rush" for lithium, used for electric cars' batteries.
Voting patterns among the valley's more than 180,000 residents look like a paradox: trending progressive in some local races while inching toward Republicans in state and national ones. Michael Luellen, an 18-year-old out gay Latino, won a City Council seat in Calipatria. Raúl Ureña, 25, who is , was reelected to Calexico's City Council, alongside their
