Rancho Santa Margarita is a city located in Orange County, California. It is a highly sought after community, thanks to its close proximity to several of the county's major cities, including Irvine and Laguna Beach. The city has a history of political involvement and activism, with many residents taking part in local elections. In recent years, the city's political landscape has seen an increase in competition between Republican candidates and Democratic candidates. This shift in the political climate can be attributed to Rancho Santa Margarita’s growing population which has increased by over 20% since 2015. This year, there are multiple candidates vying for local office, including two finalists who both come from different backgrounds but have plenty of political experience. Residents of Rancho Santa Margarita will have the opportunity to make their voices heard when they cast their ballots this November.
The political climate in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA is leaning liberal.
Orange County, CA is somewhat liberal. In Orange County, CA 53.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 44.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Orange county remained moderately Democratic, 53.5% to 44.4%.
Orange county voted Democratic in 2020 and 2016, after voting Republican in the previous four elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA is leaning liberal.
Orange County, California is somewhat liberal.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim Metro Area is very liberal.
California is strongly liberal.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Rancho Santa Margarita, California: R R r r d d
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D if the Democratic Party candidate won and I if the Independent Party candidate won. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 6,136 contributions totaling $769,066 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $125 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 2,621 contributions totaling $721,842 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $275 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)