Election oddities include man in bear suit defeating former mayor

June 10, 2016
Updated 6:50 p.m.

A few of the oddities from Tuesday’s election made the front page, but there were plenty more to debunk convention wisdom -- some that reflect the rapidly evolving political landscape of Orange County.

Here are five that caught my eye:

1. More Democrats cast ballots than Republicans in Orange County for the first time in recent history – and possibly ever. Also, more ballots were cast here for Democratic presidential candidates than for Republican ones.

Republicans traditionally have a higher propensity to vote in primaries, but Democrats were more motivated to turn out this year. That’s because Donald Trump had sewn up the GOP nomination before mail ballots went out while Democrats were engaged in a impassioned battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Also, Trump rubs some Republicans the wrong way and that didn’t help GOP turnout.

The other part of the equation is that the GOP’s advantage in the county’s voter registration has shrunken to less than 7 percentage points – close enough for Democrats to catch up with a strong showing at the polls.

2. As of Friday evening, Sanders was doing slightly better in “conservative” Orange County (44.6 percent) than statewide (43.2 percent).

3. Rohrabacher beats Baugh.
There’s been talk about the possibility of former county GOP Chairman Scott Baugh challenging longtime friend Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa, in 2016. But did you know Rohrabacher’s wife got more votes than Baugh on Tuesday?

The race was for six seats on the O.C. GOP’s governing Central Committee representing the 74th Assembly District.

Rhonda Rohrabacher came in first with 22,347 and Baugh came in second with 20,295 (as of Friday evening’s tallies).
Those results show the strength of the incumbent’s name in the area – and why some think Baugh is unlikely to challenge the congressman. The belief is that Baugh is simply gearing up for Rohrabacher’s retirement, which some – including Baugh – expect in two years, with Rohrabacher endorsing an even closer pal, county Supervisor Michelle Steel.

4. First-term incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters was tapped as freshman House members’ representative in GOP leadership, but she pulled in a just 42 percent of the vote in the primary.

That’s enough for the Laguna Beach Republican to advance to November, where she’ll likely waltz to victory over Democrat Ron Varasteh thanks to Republicans’ 12-percentage point edge in the district’s voter registration. But it’s noteworthy that the majority of voters preferred someone else, including 19 percent who cast votes for another Republican, retired Marine Corps Col. Greg Raths. Varasteh got 27 percent and Democrat Max Gouron garnered 12 percent, as of Friday’s tallies.

In June 2012, Walters faced Raths and two Democrats in her maiden bid for Congress and got 44 percent.

5. There’s been a surge of Asian American candidates in state legislative districts in north Orange County, and Asians currently hold two Assembly seats there. But in the race for the tri-county state Senate district being vacated by termed-out Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, two of the three candidates are Asian – and that may have helped create an opening for the sole white candidate.

Democrat Josh Newman, the director of a non-profit for veterans, raised just $91,000 (most of it thanks to a $81,000 loan), but was running ahead of Democratic former Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang, who raised $552,000 (including a $10,000 loan), 29 percent to 25 percent.
Leading the pack was the sole Republican, Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang, who raised $765,000 (including a $120,000 loan). Among voting age citizens, the district is roughly one quarter Asian, one quarter Latino and half white.

Newman, a community activist who had success with tech startups before launching the non-profit, spent his bankroll in novel ways – a blimp that read “Newman for State Senate” and hitting the streets in a bear suit with a campaign sign.

For my money, we could use more candidates dressed up as animals.

Contact the writer: mwisckol@ocregister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/p...nty-baugh.html