GOP Keeps Grip on Orange County’s House Delegation : Congress: Even in the 38th District, the only one in the county with a Democratic majority, Dornan captures three-fifths of the vote.

Republican incumbents in Orange County’s five congressional races took comfortable leads in early election returns Tuesday.

Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), seeking his fourth term representing the 38th Congressional District, garnered about three-fifths of the vote with absentee ballots and some precincts counted.

Democrat Barbara Jackson withdrew from the race early on and did not campaign, but still managed to draw significant percentage of the vote. Jackson, a public affairs director for Planned Parenthood, pulled out of the race because she feared her campaign could jeopardize her employer’s tax-exempt status.

The 38th District is the only one in the county where the majority of the voters are registered Democrats.

Freshman Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Long Beach), who gained national attention as an outspoken opponent of funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, was leading Democrat Guy C. Kimbrough in the 42nd Congressional District, 2 to 1. A third candidate in the race, Libertarian Richard Gibb Martin, a Long Beach contractor, did not appear to be mounting a serious challenge.

Rohrabacher’s fellow freshman in the Orange County delegation, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), was also well ahead of his opponent in the 40th District, Democrat Eugene C. Gratz of Laguna Beach.

Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), a member of Congress since 1978 who is best known for his strident opposition to gay rights, was leading Democrat Francis X. Hoffman, a Garden Grove lawyer, with more than two-thirds of the absentee ballots.

In the 43rd District, Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad) faced no Democratic opposition and was cruising to an easy victory. Packard, who was elected as a write-in candidate in 1982, was challenged by Libertarian Richard L. Arnold and Peace and Freedom Party member Doug Hansen. Early returns showed him leading his challengers, 4 to 1.

Congressmen earn $96,600 a year. On Jan. 1, a raise will take effect that will raise representatives’ salaries to $120,800.

Orange County has not sent a Democrat to Washington since 1982.