Orange County, California

:This is an article about the county in California. For other uses, see Orange County (disambiguation).

Government

Orange County is a general law county of California; its seat is Santa Ana. Its legislative and executive authority is vested in a five-member Board of Supervisors. Each Supervisor is popularly elected from a regional district, and together the board oversees the activities of the county's agencies and departments and sets policy on development, public improvements, and county services. At the beginning of each year the Supervisors select a Chairman and Vice-Chairman, but the administration is headed by a professional municipal manager, the County Executive.

Related Topics:
Seat - Santa Ana

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Seven other public officials are elected at-large: the County Assessor, Auditor-Controller, Clerk-Recorder, District Attorney, Sheriff-Coroner, Treasurer-Tax Collector, and Public Administrator.

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Politics

Orange County has long been known as a Republican stronghold and has consistently sent Republican representatives to the state and federal legislatures. Republican majorities in Orange County helped deliver California's electoral votes to Republican presidential candidates Richard Nixon (1960 and 1968), Gerald Ford (1976), Ronald Reagan in (1980 and 1984) and George H. W. Bush in (1988). Although Democrats have made inroads in the northern end of the county since the mid-1980s, Orange County politics are still dominated by Republicans. Five of the County's six U.S. Representatives, four of its five State Senators, and seven of its nine State Assembly members are Republicans, as are four of the five members of the County Board of Supervisors.

Related Topics:
Electoral votes - Richard Nixon - 1960 - 1968 - Gerald Ford - 1976 - Ronald Reagan - 1980 - 1984 - George H. W. Bush - 1988 - U.S. Representatives - State Senators - State Assembly members

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According to the California Secretary of State, as of September 2003 Orange County had 1,349,988 registered voters. Of these registered voters, 48.59% are registered Republican, 31.18% are registered Democrat, 16.07% declined to state, and the remaining 4.16% are registered with minor political parties.

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Orange County produced such notable Republicans as President Richard Nixon (born in Yorba Linda and lived in San Clemente, U.S. Senator John F. Seymour (previously mayor of Anaheim, U.S. Senator Thomas Kuchel (of Anaheim), U.S. Rep. James Utt (of Santa Ana), U.S. Rep. Robert Badham (of Newport Beach), U.S. Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (of Fullerton). Former U.S. Rep. Chris Cox (of Newport Beach) is currently chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The county has produced relatively few prominent Republicans in state government, although in 1996 Curt Pringle (currently mayor of Anaheim) became the first Republican-elected Speaker of the California Assembly in decades.

Related Topics:
Richard Nixon - Yorba Linda - San Clemente - John F. Seymour - Anaheim - Thomas Kuchel - Anaheim - James Utt - Santa Ana - Robert Badham - Newport Beach - William E. Dannemeyer - Fullerton - Chris Cox - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - Curt Pringle - California Assembly

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Since the 1990s, the growth of the Hispanic population—and reaction to the divisive campaign tactics of former state governor Pete Wilson—have softened the county's staunch Republicanism. In the landmark 1996 election, Democrat Loretta Sanchez defeated veteran Republican U.S. Rep. Robert K. Dornan, and has held the seat ever since. Republicans have responded by making more explicit efforts to court the Hispanic vote. As more immigrants and liberals settle in Orange County, there are signs that the longtime Republican monopoly is beginning to falter. Democrats such as U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, Governor Gray Davis, and Democratic Presidential candidates, have thus fared better in the county recently-- until the 2004 election, that is. In 2004 U.S. President George W. Bush captured 60% of the county's vote, up from 55% in 2000, and U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, though she won statewide, lost in Orange County to Republican Bill Jones, 43% to 51%.

Related Topics:
1990s - Hispanic - Pete Wilson - 1996 - Loretta Sanchez - Robert K. Dornan - Republican - Democrats - Barbara Boxer - Dianne Feinstein - Gray Davis - Presidential - George W. Bush - Bill Jones

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The county features prominently in the book Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right by Lisa McGirr. She argues that the County's rightward orientation in the 20th century owed much to its settlement by Midwestern transplants, who reacted strongly to communist sympathies and the turmoil of the 1960s in nearby Los Angeles—across the "Orange Curtain."

Related Topics:
20th century - Midwest - 1960s - Orange Curtain

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