Not all California voters have gone nuts—as might be suggested when the statewide returns from last week’s special election are viewed from a distance.
Good old Orange County—now a Red region in a Blue state—voted for all five conservative ballot initiatives, all of which lost statewide.
Proposition 73, the parental notification initiative, lost statewide 52.6% to 47.4%. But it won in Orange County, 59.6% to 40.4%. Proposition 74, which required public school teachers to work for five years (rather than the current 2) before getting tenure, lost 55.1% to 44.9%. It won in Orange County, 62.5% to 37.5%. Proposition 75, which required that public employees unions get written consent from individual members before using their dues for political contributions, lost 53.5% to 46.5%. It won in Orange County, 64.0% to 36.0%.
Proposition 76, which would have limited the growth of state spending, lost 62.1% to 37.9%. It won in Orange County, 55.3% to 44.7%. And Proposition 77, which would have taken California’s redistricting out of the hands of the state’s Democratic legislature and given it to a panel of retired judges, lost 59.5% to 40.5%. But it won in Orange County, 56.0% to 44.0%.
