Mark Baldassare and Cheryl Katz on Orange County’s General Election

During 1992, many Orange County residents wrote about their thoughts and feelings in articles for Orange County opinion pages. As we look back on the year, some of those thoughts are recalled in these excerpts.

While (the Nov. 3) outcome was not a decisive victory for either local Republicans or Democrats, what is certain is that voters went to the polls with change on their minds.

The final vote--43% for Bush, 32% for Clinton and 24% for Perot--indicates both the depth of discontent about their economy and a strong desire for political reform. Results proved that local voters will put economic issues ahead of party loyalty and will vote against incumbents who they think don’t deliver the goods.

Orange County voters did not abandon their political beliefs. County voters have shown their most enthusiastic support for mavericks like Ronald Reagan, who preach populism and promise to shake up the old order. Their votes for Perot, and their overwhelming support for term limits, indicate that voters are holding on to their political iconoclasm.

Mark Baldassare, professor of urban and regional planning at UC Irvine, and Cheryl Katz, research associate, are co-directors of the Orange County Annual Survey.