What the OC GOP has to say about the 2022 Election

We’re on the press list for the OC GOP, and this announcement was sent late yesterday. And in this announcement is some perspective Democrats should consider.

There’s no question Democrats have made huge strides in Orange County over the past decade.  The county is no longer a Red County but in every election cycle, Democrats have to fight to keep making the county bluer.  The words from OC GOP head Fred Whitaker serve as a reminder we need to fight every single day.

What Fred leaves out of his statement: the outright lies his party continues to run on and for that, he ought to be ashamed of himself.  I’m looking forward to countless Congressional hearings on Hunter Biden’s laptop to see how that solves inflation issues or immigration.  But read this and be energized about why our fight must continue.

 

 

Statement on Current Midterm Election Results

Orange County, CA – Hon. Fred M. Whitaker, Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County, released the following statement on the final Midterm Election results:

“The 2022 midterm election cycle brought victories to be celebrated, lessons to be learned and work still to do.

As Chairman, I oversaw the largest GOTV effort in Orange County for a midterm election. Orange County volunteers knocked on 548,513 doors and 937,360 phone calls in voter contact. We raised over $1.5 million that went directly into field operations, mail, digital ads and text messaging to support our candidates. 

For the first time since 2010, all Republican statewide nominees for partisan offices won in Orange County. We reelected every single Republican countywide candidate from Sheriff to District Attorney. We outpaced Democrats in turnout by almost 30,000 votes. And we led the largest election integrity effort in history before the election with poll watching teams, observed as ballots were counted and cured Republican ballots whose signatures were not verified to fight for every single vote. 

There are a little more than 26,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, but the final results in our most competitive races are clear. I want to thank the 119 candidates we endorsed for running strong races and carrying the Republican banner across the county. 

Republicans have officially taken the majority in the House of Representatives and Nancy Pelosi will never serve as Speaker of the House again. Congresswomen Young Kim and Michelle Steel will be returning to Washington D.C. to represent Orange County after strong victories. Republicans Scott Baugh and Brian Maryott ran incredible campaigns that came down to the wire as some of the last races called in the nation. Both campaigns were selfless coordinating with the races below them and lifting up those seats. I could not be prouder of the races they ran, forcing Joe Biden to come to Orange County twice and costing national Democrats millions to protect these seats. 

Orange County Republicans will also send our strongest delegation to Sacramento in the state legislative races. Senators-elect Janet Nguyen and Kelly Seyarto won decisive victories and Assemblyman Phillip Chen and Assemblywoman Laurie Davies will be joined by Assemblymembers-elect Diane Dixon, Tri Ta and Kathryn Sanchez.

In our final county races, Pat Bates and Peggy Huang ran close races, but the numbers remaining do not appear to be enough to win these seats. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in Pat Bates race alone and coordinated all of our efforts with her campaign and the underlying races. I want to thank them for their efforts and willingness to run and fight to protect Orange County. 

In our local races, Republicans swept critical City Councils in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Brea, Dana Point, Fountain Valley, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Rancho Santa Margarita, Laguna Hills, Tustin and Yorba Linda. We also protected our Council majorities in Laguna Niguel, Orange and San Clemente.

We competed in every race down the ballot including our critical school board races with strong Republican victories from reelecting Michelle Barto in Newport-Mesa and Judy Bullockus in Capistrano Unified to Todd Frazier flipping a Democrat seat in Placentia-Yorba Linda. We also took back the majority on the Orange Unified School District with Madison Klovstad Miner

I want to take a moment to thank Assemblyman Steven Choi, Matt Gunderson, Rhonda Shader, Soo Yoo, Eric Ching, Chris Gonzales, Mike Tardif, Mitch Clemmons and Raul Ortiz for running strong campaigns and against the realities of redistricting all performed above party registration in Democrat heavy districts. Soo Yoo in particular came within a few thousand votes of defeating Sharon Quirk Silva showing us that seat is ripe for the taking. Each of these candidates brought the Republican Party closer to victory and built the foundation for future campaigns.

A single election cycle cannot change a county. Democrats learned that in 2020 when we ended the “blue wave.” The same is true for Republicans, no one election cycle can determine the fate of our party. Change takes time and for the foreseeable future, Orange County will remain the most competitive county in California. One thing is clear from our election results – Republicans are ready to rise up to the challenge.

The 2024 election begins now. As the final results come in, we will have raw data to review and determine what worked and what we need to improve on. What we know immediately is ballot harvesting has made democracy about who can collect and turn in more ballots rather than earning votes. Until we can eliminate ballot harvesting and universal vote by mail, Republicans must adapt and win. 

We must also find unity within our party. Rogue Republican campaigns split the vote and cost us seats. Every moment and every dollar we spend fighting each other is wasted when we should be focused on defeating Democrats. The party, our county and our country are bigger than any one candidate’s or organizations’ ambitions.

Orange County is the strongest local Republican Party in California and one of the strongest in the nation. Redistricting has resulted in multiple competitive districts crossing county lines. Just as important as progressing locally, we have begun to work with neighboring counties on strengthening their operations for stronger regional efforts in these critical seats. 

As your local Republican Party, we will continue to move the ball forward and advance on our victories and opportunities ahead in 2024.”

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Press Contact
Randall Avila
(714) 453-0900
Randall@ocgop.org