Jump to content

Orange County, longtime GOP stronghold, now has more registered Democrats than Republicans


Recommended Posts

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-07/orange-county-turns-blue-with-more-registered-democrats-than-republicans?

 

la-graphics-461715-la-na-pol-2020-orange

 

In the span of the last few months, the numbers flipped:

 

Quote

The county that nurtured Ronald Reagan’s conservatism and is the resting place of Richard Nixon is now home to 547,458 registered Democrats, compared with 547,369 Republicans, according to statistics released early Wednesday morning by the county Registrar of Voters. 

 

Some history:

 

Quote

Once covered with citrus groves and ranches, Orange County became a suburban haven of tract homes and master-planned communities full of white people fleeing Los Angeles, Midwesterners seeking warmth and workers with ties to the aerospace and defense industries.

 

The John Birch Society had dozens of chapters in the county, and the phenomenon of megachurches was born there. The county was also home to a large community of wealthy Republican businessmen, including Donald Bren of the Irvine Co. and Carl Karcher of Carl’s Jr., as well as famous conservatives such as John Wayne.

 

They preached a form of “cowboy capitalism” that made the county a must-stop for GOP candidates from across the nation, said Fred Smoller, a political science professor at Chapman University in Orange.

 

Reagan’s first political fundraiser took place in Anaheim in 1965 when he was running for governor; in 1984, when he ran for reelection to the White House, he won 75% of the county’s vote.

 

Former GOP strategist Reed Galen recalled counting on the county during campaigns for President George W. Bush, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

 

“It was never a question of whether or not you would win Orange County,” he said. “The idea that you could lose it wasn’t even on the books.”

 

Tide shifting:

 

Quote

Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump there by nearly 5 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election, the first time a Democrat won the county since the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt won Orange County in his 1936 contest against challenger Alf Landon.

 

In 2018, Democrats flipped four Republican-held congressional seats in the county — wins that were key to the party taking control of the House of Representatives.

 

2018 was the first time Democrats eliminated the Republicans from Orange County, something they didn't do even in 2006 and 2008:

 

 

DsH4FQvVsAANkfM.jpg

 

Back in 1964, when LBJ won nearly every state in a landslide, Orange County was one of 5(?) counties to vote Republican:

 

PresidentialCounty1964Colorbrewer.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know why it's such a shock, the demographic shift that's ongoing, well pretty much everywhere at this point is affecting Orange County too. Just a quick search showed Orange County went from about 71% white in 2009 to about 60% white this year. Orange county isn't just rich old white people anymore. It's not just hispanics either, quite a large Vietnamese population in Garden Grove for example. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Dodger said:

I don't know why it's such a shock, the demographic shift that's ongoing, well pretty much everywhere at this point is affecting Orange County too. Just a quick search showed Orange County went from about 71% white in 2009 to about 60% white this year. Orange county isn't just rich old white people anymore. It's not just hispanics either, quite a large Vietnamese population in Garden Grove for example. 

 

Didn't those Vietnamese people often vote GOP before they went all in on the racism? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Dodger said:

I don't know why it's such a shock, the demographic shift that's ongoing, well pretty much everywhere at this point is affecting Orange County too. Just a quick search showed Orange County went from about 71% white in 2009 to about 60% white this year. Orange county isn't just rich old white people anymore. It's not just hispanics either, quite a large Vietnamese population in Garden Grove for example. 

 

They used to be stronger with Hispanics and Vietnamese.

 

Also, Texas has gotten bluer partly due to suburban white folk, not some Hispanic surge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

They used to be stronger with Hispanics and Vietnamese.

 

Also, Texas has gotten bluer partly due to suburban white folk, not some Hispanic surge.

 

 

That was my point, while it's still true in some parts, Orange County isn't old rich white Republicanville anymore. It's a pretty diverse area with all sorts of different people living in the area. There is a lot more to Orange County than rich people living at the beach. So I'm not at all surprised it's flipped. 

 

Like most people from so cal, I love the beach over there and it's definitely where I'd be living if I could afford it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Dodger said:

 

 

That was my point, while it's still true in some parts, Orange County isn't old rich white Republicanville anymore. It's a pretty diverse area with all sorts of different people living in the area. There is a lot more to Orange County than rich people living at the beach. So I'm not at all surprised it's flipped. 

 

Like most people from so cal, I love the beach over there and it's definitely where I'd be living if I could afford it. 

 

A lot of the diversity was there in the 2000s; they lost their strength with many of them. Diversity in and of itself doesn't guarantee Democratic votes or else Florida would have been blue-leaning for a long time. The midwestern influx in Orange County, for example, should theoretically be helpful to Republicans as it's been helpful to them in Southwest Florida. Even in 2012, it was 9 points Republican despite Obama's easy win.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

A lot of the diversity was there in the 2000s; they lost their strength with many of them. Diversity in and of itself doesn't guarantee Democratic votes or else Florida would have been blue-leaning for a long time. The midwestern influx in Orange County, for example, should theoretically be helpful to Republicans as it's been helpful to them in Southwest Florida. Even in 2012, it was 9 points Republican despite Obama's easy win.

 

 

I already posted that OC is 10% less white than it was just 10 years ago. Now that's not the only factor, Trump is divisive racist shit bag and all, but OC was 10+% less diverse in the early 2000's. I'm very aware that not every brown person votes Democrat or every white person votes Republican. But OC is becoming less and less white, and while it's not the only factor for it becoming blue it's definitely a big one. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, 2user1cup said:

Isn't San Diego blue already?

The east county (rural) believes that there's a massive conspiracy against scandal-ridden Duncan Hunter Jr. and consumes a tremendous amount of (very racist) fake news denouncing his challengers.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

I saw some data where both were happening, but the bigger effect was Hispanic turnout going up more than white converts

 

I had read that Hispanic turnout is always harder to get out and that the Republicans who are retiring are doing so in Texas suburbs, and also that Texas Hispanics are slightly more Republican in comparison to the nation (they still vote majority Democratic).

 

BUT,  that might not be the whole story. I could totally only have half the facts on this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, marioandsonic said:

Not like it matters in 2020.  The Dems will win California, but Trump will still get reelected.

 

More areas that are establishing more liberal laws and giving us more Democratic Congresspeople to keep the House out of Republican hands both matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Older Vietnamese people are pretty republican. My parents have some crazy views. There's a pretty famous Vietnamese online celebrity that pretty much mirrors Alex Jones and has a pretty large following by older Vietnamese people that fled Vietnam during the war. They believes China controls the world. ISIS is commanded by the Chinese Communist Party. The migrants from Mexico is being funded by China...etc etc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...