Democrats swept all seven Congressional seats in Orange County in 2018. The county was a GOP stronghold for decades. Two years later, Republicans won back some of those seats, but is there another shift? Three representatives from OC — Republicans Michelle Steel and Young Kim and Democrat Katie Porter— might not live in their districts anymore, and OC might lose one Congressional seat altogether. That’s if a draft plan from California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission sticks.
“Reading the tea leaves … I think Democrats still maintain their lead. I would say Katie [Porter] pulls it out, but Michelle Steel? She better start campaigning right now, especially if she’s not going to have that Vietnamese vote,” says Gustavo Arellano, columnist for the LA Times.
“I still say Democrats hold. The future for Democrats really goes through Orange County now, which is an absolutely crazy thing to say but it is what it is,” Arellano predicts.