California - 30th District

Incumbent -- Henry A. Waxman (D) ; Running for re-election

---

District Information

District Profile from Politics in America

With such glamorous locales as Beverly Hills, Malibu, Bel Air and Pacific Palisades, the 30th has few places that have not been immortalized by movies or television. The Democratic district stretches west from Santa Monica along the scenic Pacific Coast Highway, past Malibu to the Ventura County line. It also extends north across the Santa Monica Mountains to Calabasas and Hidden Hills on the north side of the range.

The entertainment industry drives the economy here. Many movie and television studios have facilities in the 30th, including MGM, Time Warner, Fox Broadcasting and CBS Studios. Tourism also brings revenue to the district. The 30th is home to attractions such as Grauman's Chinese Theater and several blocks of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Even during economic downturns, exclusive Rodeo Drive offers ample high-end shopping, and international tourism helps prop up the luxury retail sector on the posh street. Health care is another economic driver here. The 30th has several medical campuses, including the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and a Department of Veterans Affairs-run site that combined employ more than 15,000 people.

The district, more than 70 percent white, has an active gay community in West Hollywood and a large Jewish population. Its economy is overwhelmingly white-collar and has the nation's third-highest percentage of college-educated residents. Local colleges and universities, including Pepperdine University and UCLA, provide tens of thousands of jobs.

The district votes overwhelmingly Democratic in elections at all levels. Barack Obama won the district with more than 70 percent of its presidential vote in 2008, and Jerry Brown took a nearly 30-percentage-point win here in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Major Industry

Entertainment, higher education, health care, tourism

Cities

Los Angeles (pt.), 415,188; Santa Monica, 89,736; West Hollywood, 34,399

notable

The Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits boasts 3 million Ice Age fossils; Santa Monica Airport, formerly Clover Field, was the takeoff and landing point in 1924 for the first circumnavigation of the Earth by air.