Local cities split on White House pick

By OC Tribune Staff on November 28, 2016 • ( Leave a comment )

GARDEN GROVE and Westminster again went for the Democratic presidential pick, but Huntington Beach stayed true to the Republican Party.

By Jim Tortolano

If you’re a Democrat and feeling blue about the outcome of the Nov. 8 presidential election, there’s some cheering news in the balloting in Orange County. If you’re a Republican and red-hot about the other side making a big deal out of the popular vote totals, there’s some good stuff for you, as well.

And if you’re one of those good government types who just wants to see everyone vote, well, you might be happy, too.

According to the final numbers now available from the Orange County Registrar of Voters, the county – for the first time since 1936 and for only the second time its history – went for the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton. She polled 591,215 votes (51.4 percent) to Republican Donald Trump’s 492,152 (42.8 percent).

In the coverage area of the Orange County Tribune – Garden Grove, Huntington Beach and Westminster – Clinton carried two of the three cities.

For the third straight election, Garden Grove went to the Democrat. In the 2016 balloting, Clinton outpaced Trump by a margin of 30,006 to 18,438. Turnout was 73.9 percent.

In Westminster, the donkey beat the elephant by 16,619 to 11,949, with a citywide turnout of 74.7 percent. The city went to John McCain in 2008, but flipped to Barack Obama in 2012.

But in the largest of the three cities – Huntington Beach – continued to stay true to the GOP, backing Trump by 43,686 to 38,155 with a turnout of 77.4 percent.

Citizens of all political stripes might be cheered by voter enthusiasm in Orange County, which had a 78.2 percent turnout.

Orange County cities carried by Hillary Clinton were: