on tuesday night, as most of the country turned red, rock-solid-red orange county, calif., went blue. southern california<u+2019>s cradle of conservatism voted for hillary clinton, the first time the county supported a democratic presidential candidate since it helped to elect franklin delano roosevelt in 1936. the historic flip is a powerful signal of california<u+2019>s new rebel status. the nation<u+2019>s most populous state, which has been in virtual lockstep with policies of the obama white house, now stands again<u+00a0>as the country<u+2019>s political outlier. ms. clinton won 62% of the california vote, according to an initial tally by the associated press. <u+201c>we woke up feeling like strangers in a foreign land,<u+201d> california senate president pro tempore kevin de le<u+00f3>n and assembly speaker anthony rendon <u+2014>both latinos<u+2014>said in a statement, and pledged to preserve the state<u+2019>s liberal policies. <u+201c>we will lead the resistance to any effort that would shred our social fabric or our constitution,<u+201d> they said. on thursday, kamala harris, the state<u+2019>s attorney general and its newly elected democratic u.s. senator, met with immigrants in los angeles and promised to protect them by fighting republican president-elect donald trump <u+2019>s proposals to build a wall on the border with mexico and deport the undocumented . capital journal is wsj.com<u+2019>s home for trump transition news. california has adopted some of the most liberal policies for undocumented immigrants, allowing them to obtain driver<u+2019>s licenses and for children and teens to access state-funded health care. under democratic gov. jerry brown, california has gone further than most others implementing the affordable care act. mr. trump has pledged to repeal the law commonly referred to as obamacare, but in an interview with the wall street journal days after his election, he said he would consider preserving at least two provisions in the law. view interactive mr. brown has positioned himself as a high-profile climate-change activist; mr. trump has called climate change a hoax and is likely to undo president barack obama<u+2019>s energy and environmental agenda. <u+201c>in california, we will do our part to find common ground whenever possible,<u+201d> mr.. brown said thursday. <u+201c>but as californians, we will also stay true to our basic principles. we will protect the precious rights of our people and continue to confront the existential threat of our time<u+2014>devastating climate change.<u+201d> mr. brown joked months ago that <u+201c>we<u+2019>d have to build a wall around california<u+201d> if mr. trump became president. some californians now see the state as so politically detached<u+00a0>from the rest of the country that a previously obscure proposal to place a secession measure on the ballot began trending on twitter , under the hashtag <u+00a0>#calexit. the movement would face enormous hurdles but <u+00a0>gained a bit of momentum on social media after silicon valley investor shervin pishevar tweeted late<u+00a0>tuesday<u+00a0>that if mr. trump won, <u+201c>i am announcing and funding a legitimate campaign for california to become its own nation.<u+201d> mr. pishevar, the hyperloop one co-founder, couldn<u+2019>t be reached to comment. hyperloop one is competing to be the first to commercialize the idea of transporting people in low-pressure tubes at 760 miles an hour. california has effectively become a one-party state in recent years, amid a surge in latinos and other minorities who typically vote democrat, political observers say. since the 2000 presidential election, california<u+2019>s voter-registration roles have jumped 24%, or 3.7 million<u+2014>led by latinos and asians, according to estimates by the san francisco-based field poll. mrs. clinton beat mr. trump in orange county by five points. indeed, the president-elect may have helped the democratic cause there, party leaders said. fred whitaker, chairman of the orange county republican party, said the trump campaign didn<u+2019>t come into orange county and fund efforts for the presidential race and that the party still performed well in some local races. henry vandermeir, chairman of the orange county democratic party, said democratic voter registration has been increasing steadily in recent years and republican registration has been falling as the county<u+2019>s latino population has grown. the most recent registration numbers from the california secretary of state show 34% of the county registered as democrats, compared with 37.8% for republicans. in a closely watched orange county state senate race, ling ling chang, a republican state assemblywoman, was leading<u+00a0>against her democratic opponent, though ballots were still being counted. if ms. chang wins, it will prevent the democrats from having a two-thirds majority in the state legislature, which would give them the power to raise taxes without gop votes. statewide, 45% of registered voters are democrats; 26% are republicans. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s almost like there are two countries of people,<u+201d> said rebecca bartlett, a 30-year-old small-business owner from san francisco who<u+00a0>voted for mrs. clinton. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s like, are we even in touch with what is really going on?<u+201d> lt. gov. gavin newsom, a democrat running for governor, saw the situation as an opportunity to highlight california<u+2019>s divergence. <u+201c>don<u+2019>t feel despair where you are. if you don<u+2019>t like what happened in your state, come out to california, incredible things are happening,<u+201d><u+00a0>he said. <u+201c>why would we walk away?<u+201d><u+00a0>mr. newsom said, dismissing a potential california secession. <u+201c>we have an obligation to the rest of the country. now more than ever, they need us.<u+201d>
california, as clinton territory, finds itself a political outlier - wsj
alejandro lazo jim carlton