Are nonpartisan elections slightly less partisan?

[I’m not Stu]

Are they slightly less polarized? Republicans can win in Democratic-leaning cities like Santa Ana (councilwoman Cecilia Iglesias), Anaheim (mayor Harry Sidhu), and Garden Grove (mayor Steve Jones) with the right candidate. Democrats like Debbie Cook have been elected in GOP-leaning cities. The R vs. R OC DA runoff had 71% turnout. Why is this the case?

[brucejoel99]

Yes because people tend to give less of a crap about political parties at the local level since they don't really tend to inform local issues as significantly as state/national issues.

[I’m not Stu]

For OC DA, Todd Spitzer won CA-46 (most Democratic district) and Tony Rackauckas won CA-48 (most Republican district). Does this likely mean Spitzer won the Democratic vote?

Todd Spitzer (R): 53%, Tony Rackauckas (R): 47%