Democrats now No. 1 in former California GOP stronghold

A Southern California county between Los Angeles and San Diego long known as a GOP stronghold now has more registered Democrats than Republicans.

Orange County's Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley says there are 89 more Democrats than Republicans among its 1.6 million registered voters.

The parties each have about 547,000 registered voters, while 441,000 registered voters have no party affiliation.

He says it's the first time Democrats have outnumbered Republicans in Orange County in more than four decades. The coastal county was home to President Richard Nixon and long known as a conservative bastion.

The ascendancy of the county Democrats mirrors a long-running trend in California, which has grown increasingly Democratic in its politics. Up until several decades ago, the state was a reliable win for the GOP in presidential elections. Today, Democrats hold every statewide office in California; dominate both chambers of the Legislature and command a nearly 4 million edge over the GOP in voter registrations. The last Republican to carry the state in a presidential election was George H.W. Bush, in 1988.