Why did John Cox lose Orange County?

[Cyrusman]

He seems like a very moderate republican who would fit Orange County well. Why did he not win that county over someone who is super far left like Gavin Newsom?

[brucejoel99]

B/c there was a clearer-than-ever repudiation of the Republican Party (&, more specifically, Trump), hence major losses for Republicans, even in OC. Cox was endorsed by Trump, too, which probably hurt him even more electorally.

[DrScholl]

Cox really isn't moderate and he tried hard to appeal to more hard right voters for the most part.

[libertpaulian]

Isn't this the same John Cox who tried to run for President in 2008?

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

Cox was a hardcore social conservative pretending to be a moderate. A reverse Mitt Romney.

[Mr. Smith]

Same reason Bevin could win Elliott County, even against Andy Beshear.

[Oryxslayer]

The times, they are a'changing

[mvd10]

It's more surprising that Cox almost won Orange County tbh. Trump lost OC by 9 in 2016 and he'll probably lose by 15 in 2020.

[The Undefeatable Debbie Stabenow]

It really has very little to do with Cox or Newsom in particular and almost everything to do with the current state of the CA GOP and how the OC region is shifting demographically/politically. I mean, every single Democrat running for statewide office (against a Republican, that is) won OC: Ma, Padilla, and Becerra all won it by more than Newsom did. And that isn't to mention the simultaneous mass overthrow of GOP congresspeople in that region. Honestly, Cox did decently in OC compared to most other California Republicans running for legislative or executive offices. I actually expected him to do slightly worse given Hillary's impressive showing there in 2016; I'm guessing that some OC Republicans were more open to supporting Cox as a check on the CA legislature than they were to supporting Trump, who (despite being ideologically similar) was even less polished than Cox and was likely to already have a GOP-controlled legislature should he be elected, considering the fact that OC still sent a Republican-dominated delegation to Congress in 2016.

[scutosaurus]

Because Orange County is a Democratic county now?

[Cyrusman]

It really has very little to do with Cox or Newsom in particular and almost everything to do with the current state of the CA GOP and how the OC region is shifting demographically/politically. I mean, every single Democrat running for statewide office (against a Republican, that is) won OC: Ma, Padilla, and Becerra all won it by more than Newsom did. And that isn't to mention the simultaneous mass overthrow of GOP congresspeople in that region. Honestly, Cox did decently in OC compared to most other California Republicans running for legislative or executive offices. I actually expected him to do slightly worse given Hillary's impressive showing there in 2016; I'm guessing that some OC Republicans were more open to supporting Cox as a check on the CA legislature than they were to supporting Trump, who (despite being ideologically similar) was even less polished than Cox and was likely to already have a GOP-controlled legislature should he be elected, considering the fact that OC still sent a Republican-dominated delegation to Congress in 2016.

So what should the California GOP do to regain some control in Orange County? What should be the strategy? Newsom does not fit OC and it’s just stunning to me how he won it.

[brucejoel99]

The times, they are a'changing

[QAnonKelly]

He lost Orange County because it’s an educated, affluent, and diverse suburban county and Republicans got stomped in educated, affluent, and diverse suburban counties up and down this year

[Esteemed Jimmy]

He lost Orange County because it’s an educated, affluent, and diverse suburban county and Republicans got stomped in educated, affluent, and diverse suburban counties up and down this year

[Timothy87]

For the love of God someone update the CA insurance commissioner election to the final result...