It’s Officially a Blue Orange County

On Thursday, the DPOC will hold a press conference to announce that the registrar of voters has officially declared there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in Orange County.

This was once unthinkable.

Here’s the press release:

Orange, Calif. –The Democratic Party of Orange County will hold a news conference Thursday to share the historic moment and celebrate with key stakeholders their milestone in surpassing Republican voter registrations in “Reagan Country.”

Democrats will officially outnumber Republican registrants in the historically Republican stronghold of Orange County, California. As of Wednesday, August 7, there will be more Democrats than any other party or than voters registered with no party preference, according to Democratic party projections. Official numbers are expected to update at the Orange County Registrar of Voters site at https://www.ocvote.com/datacentral/.

“If it can happen in Orange County, it can happen anywhere,” said Orange County Democratic Party Chair Ada Briceño, an immigrant from Nicaragua who benefited from the Reagan amnesty, and is the first immigrant to lead the party in Orange County.

WHO: Ada Briceño, Democratic Party of Orange County Chair

Rusty Hicks, California Democratic Party Chair

Jason Berlin, Field Team 6 executive director

Orange County Democratic Party Young Democrats

Democratic clubs and groups throughout Orange County

Local elected officials

Community stakeholders

WHAT: Official announcement of overtaking Republican voter

registrations and turning the county from red to blue.

WHEN: Thursday, August 8, 2019, at noon

WHERE: Democratic Party of Orange County Headquarters

1916 W. Chapman Ave., Suite B

Orange, CA 92868

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And do read this great story by the LA Times political team that explains how and why this happened.

From the story:Democrats gaining an edge here over Republicans is a watershed moment for a place that has long been a citadel of GOP strength — and one that could have national implications for the future of the Republican Party.

“Trump’s toxic rhetoric and exclusionary policies alienate women, millennials, suburban voters, immigrants and people of color — critical components of the electorate in Orange County,” said Katerina Ioannides, co- chairwoman of the Orange County Young Democrats, one of several groups that worked to increase party registration.

“The Republican Party’s platform no longer resonates in a rapidly diversifying, increasingly college-educated Orange County,” said Ioannides, whose group conducted registration drives aimed at young voters.

Shawn Steel, Republican national committeeman for California, blamed the GOP decline on the large increase in the number of voters who register with no party preference, and on Republicans leaving the state because of high housing costs, poor schools and lackluster job opportunities.

Democrats gaining an edge here over Republicans is a watershed moment for a place that has long been a citadel of GOP strength — and one that could have national implications for the future of the Republican Party.

What’s happened in Orange County is also unfolding in other large, affluent suburbs that Republicans have long counted on to offset Democratic votes in the nation’s large cities, said Stu Rothenberg, veteran political analyst and senior editor at Inside Elections. He described the areas as mainly “upscale suburbs with college-educated voters who have more suburban and cosmopolitan concerns.”

“They see the Republican Party as intolerant old white men,” he said.

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