The second episode of UC Irvine’s podcast, “Red County, Blue County, Orange County” debuts Thursday, August 8th. Host Mike Madrid recently sat down with the Los Angeles Times’ Gabriel San Román to discuss the new series, which runs through September 5th.
“Orange County is a perfect battleground for the future,” Madrid told Román. “We’re seeing something very unique in Orange County that is probably a preview of what is going to be happening over the next couple of decades in this country.”
The former Republican stronghold went for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and for Joe Biden in 2020.
The determinative factor affecting voting patterns isn’t just race or class, but education status.
In the coming congressional races, “what we’re going to be looking at is the difference, not just between the racial composition of the districts but the class compositions and the education levels. The fact that we can do all three of those in the same county in the same region, with potentially different results is what is uniquely Orange County,” Madrid said.
Madrid will interview high-profile guests, including former Rep. Loretta Sanchez and current Huntington Beach Councilmember Tony Strickland, over the next several episodes. They’ll discuss Orange County’s transformation and what it may mean for the rest of the country.
Listen to the podcast here.