Yorba Linda remains second-most Republican city in Orange County despite drop in percentage of GOP registrants; Trump vote on six Yorba Linda ballots since the year 2000

 Voter registration numbers continue to show that Yorba Linda is the county's second-most Republican city, with 47.9% of 48,252 registrants choosing the GOP, but that number is significantly lower than the percentages for 2016 and 2000, 53.7% and 60.4%, respectively.

Yorba Linda's GOP plurality is behind only tiny Villa Park, where 52.1% of the city's 4,676 registrants are alinged with the Republican Party. Running close to Yorba Linda's GOP numbers is Newport Beach, with 47.7% opting for the GOP out of 59,630 registrants.

Brea and Placentia are the only other north county cities served by this newspaper to have a plurality of registered Republican voters, 37.7% out of 29,653 registrants in Brea and 36.3% out of 31,777 registrants in Placentia.

Democratic numbers prevail in Buena Park, 41.4% of 44,620 registrants; Fullerton, 39.9% of 78,023 registrants; La Habra, 41.7% of 34,115 registrants; and La Palma, 39.5% of 9,321 registrants.

Yorba Linda has the fewest “no party preference” registrations in north county at 20%, followed by 20.9% in La Habra, 21.9% in Placentia, 22.1% in Brea, 22.8% in Fullerton, 23.6% in La Palma and 24.3% in Buena Park.

The Nov. 5 general election will mark Donald Trump's seventh appearance on a Yorba Linda ballot. Long forgotten is his run as a Reform Party candidate in the March 2000 primary. His name remained on the California ballot after he announced his withdrawal from the election.

He received 45 Yorba Linda votes for the Reform Party presidential nomination. Twenty-eight votes came from registered Republicans, six from registered Democrats, two from Reform Party members, one from an American Independent and eight from non-affiliated voters.

In the June 2016 primary, Trump received 73.6% of the votes from registered Yorba Linda Republicans, and in that year's general election, he received 56.6% of all Yorba Linda votes.

In the March 2020 primary, Trump received 89% of the votes from registered Yorba Linda Republicans, and in that year's general election, he received 57.8% of all Yorba Linda votes.

In the March 2024 primary, Trump received 77% of the votes from registered Yorba Linda Republicans.

Interestingly, in the November 2020 general election, Trump beat Joe Biden in four of the five trustee areas that were established in 2018 for future board of education elections in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District.

In northwest Area 1, represented by Shawn Youngbood, Trump won by 268 votes; in southwest Area 2, represented by Marilyn Anderson, Biden won by 3,143 votes; in eastside Area 3, represented by Leandra Blades, Trump won by 3,865 votes; in central east Area 4, represented by Todd Frazier, Trump won by 2,679 votes; and in central west Area 5, represented by Carrie Buck, Trump won by 56 votes.

In 2022, a small portion of Area 1 was transferred to Area 2.