> Are we one of the most populated areas in the country?

Yeah, pretty much. The city of San Diego is the seventh largest city in the country, and the other cities in the county have large enough populations to add up fast. San Diego is bigger than San Francisco, actually, although I don't doubt that San Francisco is more congested and has more populated suburbs. Congestion is really what counts, which is why I wish I could find stats on population density and not just raw population.

Maybe the Finder of Things can do it.

> There also tends to be a lot more money in San Diego County (it's simply expensive to live here), which increases the level of conservativeness.

That makes a lot of sense. Although Washington D.C. itself is quite liberal, the suburbs lean conservative for that very reason.