Republican Club

By Brian Harmon

LW contributor

In a recent editorial, the Orange County Register announced its endorsement of Sen. John Moorlach for Orange County Supervisor District 2, adding to the list that includes the Orange County Republican Party, the New Majority of Orange County, the Lincoln Club of Orange County and the Leisure World Republican Club.

Perhaps the most disappointing California election result for Republicans this year took place in Orange County’s 37th Senate District, where Democrat Dave Min defeated Republican John Moorlach by two percentage points. Public-sector unions spent millions of dollars on ads against Moorlach, who had earned their ire for his efforts to control state spending and reform the overburdened pension systems.

This took place in an election year when Republicans did unexpectedly well in California and even clawed back two Orange County congressional seats they had lost during the 2018 “blue wave” election. The result is not just a further dwindling of the GOP’s Senate numbers, but also the loss of one of the Capitol’s heavily influential members.

Both the Republican Club and Orange County Register’s editorial board agree that Moorlach combines his number-crunching skills “with a philosophical mooring, a courageous attitude that doesn’t bend to the will of special interests, and a collegial personality.”

Politics does, however, provide silver linings. Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel is one of the two Republicans who is heading to the U.S. Capitol. She’ll soon be vacating her board seat, with a special election to finish out her term expected this spring. And despite losing his first race, Moorlach announced his candidacy and quickly received the full backing of the Orange County GOP.

The article concluded with “Perhaps California’s loss is Orange County’s gain.”