A Blue County?

October 19, 2012 Uncategorized 8

That wailing sound you hear is coming from the editorial/opinion staff at the OC Register and from the Lincoln Club with news that Anaheim, the county’s largest city, has gone blue.  Democrats now hold the dominant party registration in Anaheim and Santa Ana, with officials saying Irvine will be Democratic dominant soon.

The reason is simple: Democrats aren’t perfect but Republicans are crazy.

Here’s the proof from this story in the Orange County Register:  A two-decade trend of the GOP’s declining voter share in Orange County has resulted in Democrats’ overtaking Republicans in the county’s largest city, Anaheim, last month, and finds Irvine on course to be the next major city in the county to follow suit.

Long dubbed “the most Republican county in the nation,” Orange County had a GOP registration that peaked in 1990, with a 55.6 percent share – a 22-point advantage over Democrats. GOP registration is now at 41.5 percent of all county voters, a 10.1-point lead over Democrats that is likely to drop into single digits soon.

While Democrats have held on to their share – roughly a third of all voters – over the years, Republicans’ share has fallen and the portion of unaffiliated voters – now 22.5 percent – has grown. A key reason is the demographic shift, with Orange County growing more ethnically diverse and more like the state overall in ethnicity.

…

Baugh noted that the Republican losses in Orange County are being seen throughout the state, where the Democratic advantage continues to grow. Statewide, registration is at 43 percent Democrat, 30 percent Republican and 21 unaffiliated.

Baugh also argued that while Republican numbers have shrunk, the county is still strongly Republican at the polls. As evidence, he pointed to Republican Meg Whitman beating Democrat Jerry Brown by 20 points in the county in the 2010 governor’s race.

On the other hand, Barack Obama lost Orange County by just 2.6 percent in 2008, the strongest showing by a Democratic presidential candidate here in more than 20 years.

8 Comments

  1. It will be interesting to see the Romney vs. Obama vote tally in OC this go-round – bet it’s a 20+ point differential this time.

    • I’d take that bet. Brown would have done much better than a 20-point loss to Whitman in 2010, but he decided not to spend any money here at all. (I am sadly familiar with this, having been his County Coordinator.) Whitman had a big and active office. This time, both candidates are just using OC as piggybanks. It will probably be a decent indicator of where the county stands — and that won’t be a 20-point Republican edge.

    • Mr. Lauten,

      For the most part I ignore your rantings as those of a crazy uncle that we only let out of his room on holidays. But in this case I’ll ignore that practice.

      Comparing the President to Hitler is a bit over the top, even for you. Your Larouche Pac theories are tiring and laughable. If that is all you have to add to the conversation you are wasting your time commenting here.

      Nobody is buying the crap you’re selling.

  3. Dan, many Republicans do not like the chaos created by the Orange County Republican Party and have re-registered as Independents. I am actually thinking about doing that myself, after the election. That said, the conservative leaning people are still here, but no longer under the banner of a major political group. We still vote our convictions based on each election and of course, there aren’t many conservative Democrats around, so for the most part the vote will go to Republicans.

  4. I have voted republican in every election in the past 30 years. Travis Kiger, Bruce Whitaker and Chris Norby is the best of what the OC republican party has to offer?

    If that’s it I quit. Those guys and their ownership of the FFFF Blog makes me sick. I am done with the republican party.

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