It’s not just Democrats, speaking from experience, even the most conservative people on HOA boards often turn into little tyrants when they get a little power.
My wife and I were involved in 3 HOAs at one time, each one turned into a disaster I’ve not seen any HOA over time that doesn’t turn into a disaster regardless of the politics of the Board.
One faction -- I'll call them the Malcontents -- was a bunch of people who complained about the HOA fees (as I said before, these fees are less than $100 per year) and insisted that the HOA was being mismanaged. These tended to be younger residents who were the second or third generation of owners in the subdivision. They had two particular demands: (1) conduct an audit of the HOA's books, and (2) consider disbanding the HOA so they wouldn't be subject to all the silly rules they dislike (which are really inconsequential). Some of them even claimed they had no idea there was an HOA when they bought their homes.
The other faction -- I'll call them the Veterans -- included mostly original owners. They were totally fine with the HOA and had no complaints at all.
I am one of the newest residents in the HOA. This was my first HOA meeting, in fact. I helped defuse the contentious situation by siding with the Veterans. I pointed two things out to the Malcontents (which didn't win me friends among them but perhaps did convince many of them to either vote for the Veteran board members in the election or not vote at all):
1. An audit of the HOA's books and records would cost the equivalent of about 300% of the HOA's annual budget. So their HOA fees would triple just to cover the cost of the audit they were demanding.
2. Anyone who wasn't aware of the existence of the HOA when they bought their home was a moron or should consider suing their real estate agent and/or the prior owner -- because that information was required to be included in the seller's disclosure package under state law.
The "Veteran" faction of the HOA was re-elected by an overwhelming margin.
Some of the dumbest HOA board members I've come across are "conservative people" who refuse to enforce rules that they are obligated through their fiduciary duties to enforce. It was one attorney who specializes in HOA law who said it best:
"If you don't force one homeowner to remove the Ohio State flag that violates the HOA rules, you'll never be able to go back six months later and tell the guy next door to him to take down his Nazi flag."