Almarzouq Sulwan Almarzouq Jesse Latour English 101 March 13 2014 Politics of Orange County in California Orange county in California is a county that is well known for its staunch but diverse conservatism. However, the current political, social and economic landscape of Orange County has changed significantly as a result of immigration flows. To better understand the local politics of Orange County, it is important to first describe it demographic landscape. Demographically, the Orange County comprises of a diverse communities and races. It is the county accommodating about half of the immigrants. These immigrants comprises mainly of the Asian Americans and the Latinos. The Asian Americans account for about one-fifth of the population in Orange County whereas the Latinos is made up of more than a third of the total population. Most of the Asian Americans come from Vietnam. Significant percentage of immigrants reside in major cities in the county such as Buena Park, Fullerton and Anaheim. Politically, most of the immigrants supports the Grant Old Party (GOP). This is actually the other name for the Republicans. However, the article written by Wisckol (2012) reveals strange revelation about the politics of the Orange County. The article admits that Orange County's Asian American voters, led by Vietnamese Americans, are more likely to register as Republicans than Democrats. The statistics concur with this in the sense that 36% of Asian Americans in Orange County register as Republicans and 27% as Democrats (Reft, 2013). In the last election, it was found that President Obama, who is a democrat, secured 48% of the votes from the county. Romney won in the county. However, the study by Wisckol (2012) indicates that despite majority of the immigrants registering as Republicans, most of them support democrats. This implies that the party allegiance is relatively loose and that is why the members of the county can easily switch the party. Analysis of voters based on the city they reside also shows that virtually all voters from different cities tend to support the Democrats. This is strange because some cities whose residents registered as Republicans ends up supporting Democrats. As stated, the politics of this county has undergone a lot of changes. Initially, the county used to act as the social glue that held together region largely bereft of public spaces. History indicates that Republicans have not been doing well in the County. This is evidence by the failed Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. The county was also once very volatile in terms of political stability. This is because Asian Vietnamese, were in a war with US (Wisckol, 2012). This destabilized the county significantly. This lead to development of different laws and acts (Wisckol, 2012). Example of the acts formed include the War Bride Act of 1945. This was formed to intervene for cases where G.I.s wanted to marry the Asian women they got while in service during t.

1. Almarzouq
Sulwan Almarzouq
Jesse Latour
English 101
March 13 2014
Politics of Orange County in California
Orange county in California is a county that is well known for
its staunch but diverse conservatism. However, the current
political, social and economic landscape of Orange County has
changed significantly as a result of immigration flows. To better
understand the local politics of Orange County, it is important
to first describe it demographic landscape. Demographically,
the Orange County comprises of a diverse communities and
races. It is the county accommodating about half of the
immigrants. These immigrants comprises mainly of the Asian
Americans and the Latinos. The Asian Americans account for
about one-fifth of the population in Orange County whereas the
Latinos is made up of more than a third of the total population.
Most of the Asian Americans come from Vietnam. Significant
percentage of immigrants reside in major cities in the county
such as Buena Park, Fullerton and Anaheim. Politically, most of
the immigrants supports the Grant Old Party (GOP). This is
actually the other name for the Republicans. However, the
article written by Wisckol (2012) reveals strange revelation
about the politics of the Orange County. The article admits that
Orange County's Asian American voters, led by Vietnamese
Americans, are more likely to register as Republicans than
Democrats. The statistics concur with this in the sense that 36%
of Asian Americans in Orange County register as Republicans
and 27% as Democrats (Reft, 2013). In the last election, it was
found that President Obama, who is a democrat, secured 48% of

2. the votes from the county. Romney won in the county.
However, the study by Wisckol (2012) indicates that despite
majority of the immigrants registering as Republicans, most of
them support democrats. This implies that the party allegiance
is relatively loose and that is why the members of the county
can easily switch the party. Analysis of voters based on the city
they reside also shows that virtually all voters from different
cities tend to support the Democrats. This is strange because
some cities whose residents registered as Republicans ends up
supporting Democrats. As stated, the politics of this county has
undergone a lot of changes. Initially, the county used to act as
the social glue that held together region largely bereft of public
spaces. History indicates that Republicans have not been doing
well in the County. This is evidence by the failed Republican
Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. The county was also
once very volatile in terms of political stability. This is because
Asian Vietnamese, were in a war with US (Wisckol, 2012). This
destabilized the county significantly. This lead to development
of different laws and acts (Wisckol, 2012). Example of the acts
formed include the War Bride Act of 1945. This was formed to
intervene for cases where G.I.s wanted to marry the Asian
women they got while in service during the U.S. and Vietnam
War. Another act is the Soldier Brides Act of 1946 and the
McCarren Act of 1952 (Wisckol, 2012). Generally, the major
reason why most of the immigrants, which comprises mainly of
the Asian Vietnamese tend to register through Republican is
that Republican Ford Administration facilitated the immigration
of the Asian Vietnamese into U.S. by coming up with Indochina
Migration and Refugee Assistance Act and also putting in place
programs that would assist in settling the refugee. Such
programs include the Camp Pendleton situated in Southern
California. However, as the tension settles, most of the
immigrants are beginning to support the Democrats. This
implies that the immigrants have no political allegiance
(Wisckol, 2012).

3. References
Wisckol, M. (2012). Wisckol: O.C. Asian Americans - GOP in
name only? Retrieved from:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/percent-378258-asian-
american.html
Reft, R. (2013). What's Old is New: How Orange County's
Conservative Past Created its Demographics Today. Retrieved
from:
http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/columns/intersections/how
-orange-countys-conservative-past-created-its-demographics-
today.html