The two major parties have nearly equal registration in the 10th District, which includes the Livermore and San Ramon valleys, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Walnut Creek, Clayton, Antioch, Brentwood, most of Pleasant Hill and much of Castro Valley. The Times poll shows Tauscher drawing better among Democrats than Hutchison does among Republicans. Tauscher is also much stronger among independents and minor-party voters. The splits can best be seen when the data are examined by political ideology. Self-described liberals heavily favor Tauscher and conservatives heavily favor Hutchison.
Moderates comprise a little more than a third of the district.
You can't ignore those guys and hope to win. There continues to be a gender gap in the results, with Tauscher drawing roughly evenly between men and women while Hutchison does better among men than women. The gender gap is a reflection of the partisan split in the race because women tend to register and vote more Democratic than men, Cain said. The Times also found that likely voters in the 10th District slightly favor Vice President Al Gore over Texas Gov. George W. Bush in the presidential race. The finding is interesting because the 10th is a bellwether district, where voters in the 1990s always matched the statewide pick for president, governor and U.S. Senate.