Two things tend to dominate the 5th - state politics and triple digit temperatures that send air conditioners into overdrive. Sacramento first attracted fortune seekers as the starting point of the Gold Rush of 1849 and still draws people, although these days it's for government jobs.
State government is by far the largest employer.
While the city's economy has improved since the recession of the early 1990s, the pace of growth has lagged behind the rest of the state. But the overall metropolitan area is expected to have one of the nation's fastest growing workforces at the turn of the century. Overall, Democrats hold a 23-percent edge in voter registration. Democrats gained strength in the 1992 redistricting when mapmakers removed some more affluent suburbs. The city itself is more diverse than neighboring communities, with significant Hispanic and Asian populations, and more likely to vote Democratic, as reflected in the makeup of the local government.