By Mark Lieberman and David Lim
Tim Goeglein–well-established conservative, former employee of the George W. Bush administration and longtime Washington, D.C.-area resident–experienced an unusual feeling when he went to a campaign event in Utah a few years ago.
For once, he felt like a member of the ideological majority.
“I remember giving this speech and afterwards in the Q&A part, it was remarkable,” Goeglein said. “I thought to myself, ‘I’m actually in a state where the overwhelming majority of people vote Republican.’ I remember discussing at that particular venue, ‘Wouldn’t it be remarkable to live this way?’”
This question lingers on the minds of many people who identify as conservative and Republican in the District, where fewer than one in 15 residents is a registered Republican.
Republicans currently represent just more than 6 percent of the city’s registered voting population, and they haven’t elected a District mayor in more than 50 years, according to the District of Columbia Board of Elections. The Democratic Party, by comparison, holds an overwhelming 75 percent of registered voters.
On a national level, the gap is smaller.
Republicans represent 25 percent of the nation’s registered voters, while Democrats represent 31 percent, according to a 2013 Gallup poll. Independents make up 42 percent, a large part of registered voters, according to the poll.
The District has long been characterized as a liberal city, presenting challenges for people with different viewpoints.
Goeglein first moved to the District in 1985 as an intern for former Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Quayle. The next summer, he interned for former Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Coats.
From his residence in Foggy Bottom, Goeglein quickly realized that he would rarely find a large group of people who shared his viewpoints. Nearly 30 years later, Goeglein said the political climate hasn’t changed much.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes in the city. I’ve seen the traffic increase exponentially. I’ve seen the development in the suburbs increase dramatically,” Goeglein said. “But I’ve seen virtually no change in the political composition of the city.”
The percentage of Republicans and Democrats has varied by only 3 points over the past 11 years, according to the District of Columbia Board of Elections.
As vice president of external relations for Focus on the Family, a bipartisan Christian organization dedicated to promoting traditional family values, Goeglein frequently comes in contact with Democrats and people with other viewpoints contrary to his own.
“We live in a country that encourages freedom. If you love freedom, and you love liberty, which I do, you have to be prepared to have people not just disagree with you, but to disagree strongly and adamantly,” Goeglein said. “I think that those disagreements can be strong and adamant but still civil.”
Rather than wallow in his minority status, Goeglein sees it as a point of pride, and he says it hasn’t prevented him or his wife and kids from establishing ties to the local community.
“We love our friends, we love the culture, we love the history,” Goeglein said. “We don’t feel isolated or lonely or abandoned. Quite the opposite. We embrace living in Washington.”
Rob Schwarzfelder, executive vice president of the Family Research Council, came here in 1991, quickly adjusting to the cutthroat political environment.
“My expectations for the efficacy of political action have been tempered by the reality of how long it takes to get things done, how incremental change almost invariably is, how skeptical people are of dramatic change even if it might be in their interests,” Schwarzfelder said.
These challenges are equally present at the university level.
Lucy Lohrmann, 20, is a junior studying business at American University. During the last school year, she served as president of the school’s College Republicans organization, which brings conservative speakers to campus and advocates for conservative causes at the university and beyond.
This year, American University College Republicans had 50 active members and 150 who attended at least one event, according to current club president Nicholas Hunt. By comparison, the American University College Democrats also had approximately 50 active members, with closer to 125 attending periodically, according to the club’s treasurer Devin Mitchell, a junior at the university.
These numbers tend to stabilize during years without a presidential election, according to Lohrmann said. However, AU College Democrats outnumbered AU College Republicans by a ratio of 3-to-1 during the last presidential election, according to Lohrmann.
Despite her title, Lohrmann said she often felt uncomfortable discussing her political views, particularly her pro-life stance, on campus. Lohrmann also said her conservative friends in the political science program have experienced similar discrimination and discomfort.
“Even as College Republicans president, you have those fears that you have to come in contact, debating people who don’t feel the same way you do,” Lohrmann said. “I kind of got used to that my sophomore year, just sucking it up essentially and kind of going with it.”
On the other hand, Lohrmann said, the small number of conservatives in the District provides more opportunities for networking and camaraderie among people with common interests and beliefs.
“The friendships that I’ve made at AU and in D.C. as a whole – everyone’s very close knit because we are such a minority,” Lohrmann said. “There’s a sense of community.”
One of the College Republicans’ goals is bucking narrow stereotypes about Republicans. American University sophomore Jamie Nunziata, currently the vice president of AU’s College Republicans, says the demographics of the club are much broader than non-Republicans might expect.
“It’s not just the party for old white men like people tell me,” Nunziata said. “It has women and kids and minorities.”
Hunt admits his club’s abilities as an engine for political change are limited.
“We can’t really change anyone’s beliefs,” Hunt said. “You can just provide that alternative point of view.”
Though statistics suggest the District will remain politically unbalanced for a while, Goeglein thinks there’s a possibility that the balance will shift, if slightly.
“I think that over time, you could see a change in the political composition of the city,” Goeglein said. “There’s a real libertarian strain among a lot of the new young demographic in Washington.”
Statistics confirm Goeglein’s predictions.
In November 2012, Libertarian Congressional delegate candidate Bruce Majors received almost 6 percent of the vote, according to the District of Columbia Board of Elections. This turnout qualified the Libertarian Party as a “major party” in the city.
Libertarians became eligible to be counted among registered voters beginning in December 2012. As of Nov. 30, 2014, 603 of the 468,222 District voters were registered as Libertarians, according to the District of Columbia Board of Elections.
The recent midterm election results have instilled a new sense of optimism in Washington, D.C.’s conservative population, Goeglein says. The Republicans’ swing back to victory reminds Goeglein that effecting conservative political change in a liberal city is a gradual process.
“All public policy change happens most effectively when it happens incrementally,” Goeglein said. “There are very few times in American public policy where you have enormous changes that happen instantly or automatically.”
Schwarzfelder is motivated by the notion that fighting for political change is a victory in itself.
“I don’t think you ever win an argument you don’t make,” Schwarzfelder said.
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