Midterm election results reflect O.C.’s purple evolution
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While Orange County’s voting results from the Nov. 3 midterm elections won’t be certified until after the last ballot is counted, this former conservative bastion is keeping to a trend that drew attention in 2018 — it’s turning as purple as a ripe summer plum.
Last spring, a poll by the UCI School of Social Ecology revealed that 34% of Orange County residents identified as Democrats and 30% as Republicans, with the balance saying either that they had no party preference or they were registered with a smaller party, according to this TimesOC report on this month’s election by my colleague Gabriel San Román.
“What that is telling us is that Orange County voters are much more evenly split than elsewhere in the state,” Jon Gould, dean of the UCI School of Social Ecology explained. “Even in a year that is huge for Democrats nationwide, Orange County still is pretty much purple.”
County voters have thrown their support behind Democrat Xavier Becerra in the governor’s race by giving him 55.03% of their votes, as opposed to the 44.97% received by Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate, based on the most recent local results released at 5 p.m. yesterday by the Orange County registrar of voters. O.C. also gave the nod to Democrats running in all the other state offices, including that of attorney general, where former Huntington Beach City Atty. Michael Gates has fallen to the incumbent Rob Bonta.
Eight congressional seats in districts that include Orange County cities were on the ballot. Three of the top vote-getters in those races are Republicans and the remaining are Democrats. In the state Senate races representing O.C., two front runners are Republicans and three are Democrats; of the nine state Assembly races, four are either clearly going to Republican candidates or are leaning in that direction as of the latest count, while five are in the Democrats’ column.
When asked by San Román for his take on the results that had been released by last Thursday, Gould, the UCI dean said, “It really looks like straight-ticket voting. Who voters are picking for the statewide races is pretty much a party decision, not so much about the individual candidate.”
In the leadup to the midterms, O.C. Democrats announced they had reached more than 700,000 registered Dems on the voter rolls. According to the registrar’s “data central” page, of the county’s roughly 1.9 million voters, 707,468 are Democrats and 642,350 Republicans.
The chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County, Will O’Neill, noted that while national elections showed that voter sentiment was against Republicans on Nov. 3, more local races, such as for city councils and school boards (often nonpartisan in theory only) were not all tilting blue. “Orange County Republicans have turned out in significantly higher numbers than four years ago and we will get good local wins because of it,” he told TimesOC.
We’ll see how it all shakes out in coming days as the seemingly interminable wait for tabulations each election season comes to an end and the votes are certified.
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Sports roundup
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4 Things to do in OC
🏡 Support Rady Childrens Health (formerly CHOC) by participating in the 52nd annual Holiday Home Tour & Boutique sponsored by the Jack and Jill Guild. Three beautiful Orange County homes are on the tour, which takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. this Thursday, Nov. 12, and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. To learn more and to buy tickets, go to this site.
🌱 Take your home gardening-related questions to San Clemente’s Casa Romantica on Sunday, Nov. 15, when a U.C. Master Gardener volunteer will be on site from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to give you some expert guidance.
🦞 Rise early on Saturday or Sunday to get first crack at the fresh seafood being sold by vendors at Newport Beach’s historic Dory Fleet near the Newport Beach Pier. Hours are 5:30 a.m. until they are sold out.
👩🎤 Prepare to be entertained when the popular drag revue production Broadway Divas stages its Las Vegas-inspired production “Viva Las Divas” at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Shows begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14. Tickets are available at scfta.org.
KEEP IN TOUCH
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter! Please feel free to reach out with comments or questions at carol.cormaci@latimes.com.
