Isn't that one of the few RW loon cities left in CA that is now finally shifting to purple? I just found this article that although confirms the tide is turning, the loons are still out and about and loud.
Orange County is still mother ship for GOP money, but shift from red to purple accelerates
By Hannah FryStaff Writer
Oct. 3, 2021 5 AM PT
In Orange County, no place has been more of a pandemic battleground than Huntington Beach. Some residents joined pro-Trump, anti-mask rallies at the beach. Others were appalled. Mayor Pro Tem Tito Ortiz refused to wear a mask at City Council meetings until he resigned, paving the way for a Black woman to replace him and flip the council majority Democratic. Last months recall election cemented the citys reality as more ideologically mixed than its reputation for showy right-wing gestures would suggest.
The city voted in favor of recalling Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, but not by a landslide. While still more conservative than the county as a whole, Huntington Beach has become increasingly ethnically and politically diverse. The same is true of other traditionally deep-red enclaves, which are less likely than in the past to support a cause like recalling the governor largely on his pandemic performance.
For the near future, Orange County may continue to teeter on either side of the political divide, as when two U.S. House seats that flipped blue in 2018 went red again two years later. O.C. went against the recall by 52% to 48% a narrower margin than Newsoms overwhelming statewide victory but still a significant result in the former conservative bastion. Experts say the long-term trend for O.C. leans blue, with the politicization of the pandemic accelerating movement away from the Republican Party.
Battles over masking and vaccines drove some conservative, science-believing voters to support Newsom likely some of the same voters, alienated by Donald Trumps insult-heavy, truth-bending tactics, who helped the county break for Hillary Clinton and then Joe Biden four years later. Theres this loud minority that comes out and wants to portray the county as still being very conservative, with the anti-vaxxers and some of the white supremacist ideas, but thats not the case, said Ada Briceño, chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-10-03/after-recall-orange-county-still-teeters-on-red-blue-line
This oil spill is just horrific, not just for the air, sea, and land wildlife but considering that is sortof a "touristy" beach town, it will have a major impact on the economy there.