Sacramento County was politically competitive in most presidential elections between 1952–2004, but now votes significantly in favor of the Democratic candidates. Candidates from the Democratic Party have carried the county in the past seven presidential elections, and have won a majority of the county's votes thrice during that time (in 2008, 2012 and 2016). The city of Sacramento is strongly Democratic, while rural areas are strongly Republican; suburban areas are more divided. This pattern is also present in congressional and state legislative elections. The last Republican presidential candidate to win a majority in the county was George H.W. Bush in 1988.