Opinion | Orange County needs your vote

Gracie Fleischman, Opinions Editor

There’s a reason former President Barack Obama recently spoke in Anaheim, California, for the first time this August: the midterm elections in Orange County are proving to be more important than ever, especially if you are liberal.

Around the same time Ronald Reagan became governor of California in 1967, Orange County began creeping slowly to the right, according to the LA Times. It was sometimes referred to as the “Orange Curtain” by Republicans that won the votes of white suburban residents in the area. Although the county is often called a “Republican stronghold,” its growing diversity and the increase in left-wing candidates running for office have changed it drastically since 2012.

The most important gains to be made are in the U.S. House of Representatives. If Democrats want to win back a majority in the House, they need Orange County’s red districts to turn blue. Out of these districts, there are three in desperate need of new leadership that have a chance of electing a democrat.

In the 45th district, which encompasses cities like Irvine and Tustin, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters’ seat is threatened by University of California, Irvine law professor Katie Porter. Endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.), Sen Kamala Harris (D–Calif.), and Obama, Porter leads in the polls by 5 percent. By contrast, Walters has voted in line with President Donald Trump almost 99 percent of the time and is so disliked by her constituents that her Google reviews average 1.7 stars.

Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher represents the 48th district, which spans from Aliso Viejo to Huntington Beach. As someone who lives in his district, I can attest that he is truly terrible. In July, Rohrabacher yelled at reporters who questioned him about his involvement with Maria Butina, who is accused of being a covert Russian agent and allegedly infiltrated the National Rifle Association (NRA) on behalf of the Kremlin.

A month earlier, Rohrabacher told members of the National Association of Realtors that he believed homeowners shouldn’t have to sell to LGBTQ people. Perhaps Rohrabacher is confused and believes he is representing a more conservative state like Indiana, where similar laws have been passed. Either way, we need to vote this bigoted man out of office.

In the 49th district, which covers part of Laguna Niguel and parts of San Diego County, democratic candidate Mike Levin is leading in the polls against climate change denier and Republican Diane Harkey. Levin is a lawyer who has worked for environmental and clean energy causes, while former lawmaker Harkey was endorsed by Trump, as well as “San Diegans for Secure Borders,” a group that promotes white nationalism propoganda.

If you live in any of these districts, please vote Nov. 6. If you are from a different state or district with a less narrow race, consider changing your voter registration to reflect your Chapman address. You may see yourself moving back to your hometown after graduation, but right now, you probably live here the majority of the year – and these representatives affect your day-to-day life.

To register as a voter in Orange County if you are from a different state or district, you simply reregister with your new address on California’s voter registration website. You can do so as many times as you need, as long as it reflects your current residence. You can also check your voter status, just in case you forgot to register or don’t remember doing so.

The last day to register to vote in California for the upcoming midterms is Oct. 22. In the past, midterm elections have a historically low voter turnout — in the last midterm in 2014, the U.S. had the lowest turnout since World War II at a little over 36 percent, according to Time. But this year, turnout is already higher than the last midterms, with more than 10 million people who already cast their vote, compared with the previous midterms, when only 7 million had voted by this time, according Pew Research Center.

Let’s change Orange County for the better this midterm – we have the power to do so and we have candidates who are worth voting for. The people of our county deserve better representation and the best way to kick Trump-supporting politicians out of power is to vote.