Voter turnout in Orange County reached around 76% this year, with more than 1.4 million ballots counted.
At first glance, the election data offers a snapshot of the county’s overall leanings. Voters swung blue for Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race but chose Republican Steve Garvey in the race for California’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Related: Donald Trump had his narrowest defeat yet in Orange County. How 2024 compared to elections past
But dig deeper, and the precinct-level numbers reveal fascinating insights into the pulse of its diverse communities.
Here are five quick takeaways from Orange County’s 2024 precinct data now that the election results have been certified.
Coto de Caza’s cucumber-shaped precinct? Solidly red
Among the county’s larger precincts where more than 2,000 votes were cast, none swung harder to the right than this neighborhood in southeast Orange County. President-elect Donald Trump received around 62% of the vote from about 2,098 ballots cast, making it the reddest slice of the county at scale.
Orange County’s purple heart beats in Costa Mesa
Fourteen precincts countywide saw a perfect split between Harris and Trump, but the one with the largest vote count was near Kaiser Elementary School and the Costa Mesa Freeway, where the two tied at 582 each.
Across the freeway, another deadlock. In a smaller Costa Mesa precinct home to the First United Methodist Church and a luxury apartment complex, Harris and Trump tied again — this time with just 78 votes apiece.
Other evenly split precincts where more than 500 votes were cast came from Fountain Valley and Cypress.
Third-party voters make their mark in CA-47
California’s 47th congressional district, a competitive one at that, led the county in the total number and percentage of third-party votes. Jill Stein, representing the Green Party, snagged 5,404 ballots from the 370,205 cast, outpacing any other third-party presidential candidate.
Stein ultimately won 1.2% of the vote in Orange County as a whole — as did Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ultimately suspended his campaign and backed Trump a few months before Election Day.
College loyalty leaned blue — but Chapman stands out
Of Orange County’s three major universities, Chapman University‘s precincts were the only ones where Harris’ support hovered around 60%.
By contrast, precincts around Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine gave her more than 80% of their votes.
Harris particularly ruled in precincts around UCI, which include student and faculty housing. There, Harris won nearly 90% of the vote from roughly 5,800 ballots cast.
House candidates outshine their party leaders
Eight of the 12 congressional candidates in Orange County outperformed their party’s presidential nominee by more than 1%.
Standouts included Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, who outpaced Trump by about 7% in California’s 40th congressional district, and Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, who bested Harris’ performance by roughly 6.4% in the 46th.
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