Sierra-Nevada county, the rural exception in California, leans Democratic

This column by Mark Barabak in the Los Angeles Times makes the point that rural California--like most rural areas around the country--are conservative.  Alpine County, population 1204, in the Sierra-Nevada mountains southeast of Lake Tahoe, defies that stereotype.  Here's an excerpt:  

Alpine County, perched like an emerald on the crest of the Sierra Nevada, is as rural as rural California gets.

Vast distance separates its sparse settlements, tucked among forests and crystalline streams. The views, unobstructed by city clutter, go on forever.

There is no hospital, no supermarket, fast-food restaurant or shopping mall anywhere in its 743 square miles. The only stoplight is temporary, put in place for a bridge repair.

And yet if all goes as expected in Tuesday’s primary election, Alpine County will vote along the same lines as Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and other urbanized blue bastions.

Rural usually means Republican. But Alpine County, set in the far eastern reaches of the state, is a notable exception — a Democratic speck bobbing alone in a sea of red.