Staten Island has always been a slice of upstate transported to downstate. It's where all the Wall Street clerks live. If you ever wondered, how can NYC be so liberal and still have the financial heart of the country there with financially-savvy Republican types, well, Staten Island is the answer. Downstate in general, though, has been trending left for the last twenty years. Nassau County used to be bedrock Republican, now sadly it has turned liberal.
It was disturbing to watch in '92 when L.I. went for Clinton.
It was the first time I thougth, "what's wrong with these people"?
In terms of Staten Island, even though there are far more listed registered Democrats than Republicans, the island has only voted for the Democratic presidential nominee three times since 1952 — in 1964, 1996 and 2000. In 2004 Bush received 57% of the Island's votes, to 42% for Kerry.