Orange County’s police unions are generally one of the strongest forces in local politics, backing candidates on both sides of the aisle to spend thousands of dollars on candidates who then get elected and generally vote to increase salaries and benefits for law enforcement.
But this year, police unions in some of Orange County’s biggest cities appear to have been routed after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars opposing both Republicans and Democrats on the ballot who are currently on track to win their seats.
That’s likely going to open up some questions about police salaries over the next few years, an issue several city councils have already begun debating amid growing financial problems and budget deficits.
That debate peaked in Huntington Beach in September, when Republican council members narrowly voted to approve a contract that gave police officers an 18% raise over the next three years even as the city has faced a structural budget deficit every year for the past three years.
Councilman Pat Burns, who is a retired Long Beach police officer, and Mayor Casey McKeon were two of the three votes against that contract citing the financial pressures facing the city.
After the vote, the Huntington Beach Police Officer’s Association spent nearly $350,000 on advertising against their campaigns and support for several other candidates, including Councilman Andrew Gruel and challengers Brian Burley, Taryn Palumbo and Erin Spivey.
Despite that spending McKeon and Burns were the top two vote getters in the city as of Monday, sitting nearly 1,500 votes ahead of their nearest competition, with Gruel the only one of the four police backed candidates on track to win a seat.
McKeon called that spending “a disgrace” in a Monday interview, saying that police and other public sector unions will spend thousands of dollars to intimidate candidates on both sides of the aisle into voting for them.
“It’s not like they’re not paid well,” McKeon said. “They make in two months what a teacher makes in a year.”
“I’m sure that was to send a message to other elected officials throughout the county, but if it bears out the way it does right now the people see through these intimidation tactics.”
The police union did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
McKeon, Burns and Gruel all were endorsed by the county Republican Party, while Palumbo and Spivey were endorsed by the county Democratic Party. Burley is a Republican but was not endorsed by the party in the city council race.
Police Union-Backed Candidates Poised to Lose in Santa Ana
In Santa Ana, the police union typically is the biggest spender on local elections in a town where officials often face scrutiny over police use of force and demands for accountability – with the most recent calls coming after the viral violent arrest of resident Florentino Lopez last month.
In this election, the union dropped nearly $270,000 on mailers and ads supporting incumbent Mayor Valerie Amezcua, incumbent Councilman Phil Bacerra, attorney Giovanni Chavez and Realtor Selica Diaz – all of whom were on track to lose their election by Monday evening.
Meanwhile, the police officers association also spent about $58,000 collectively on ads and mailers opposing incumbent Councilman Ben Vazquez and City Planning Commission Chair and Chispa Executive Director Isuri Ramos, as of Nov. 2.
Vazquez and Ramos, two progressive backed candidates, have maintained or widened their leads since the initial count on Election Night.
“There was a lot of money they spent on ads attacking me, on mail attacking me, and at the end of the day, that didn’t work and it didn’t work because voters knew my record,” Ramos said in a Monday phone interview.
“Voters were able to see past it. When I was at the door with voters, they could see that I was from the community, that I had served the community.”
Ramos and Vazquez are not the only ones on track to win – in fact progressive backed candidates are all on track to win the four seats on the city council up for grabs this year and flip the current council’s ruling majority – primarily made up of police union-backed politicians.
In the mayor’s race, Attorney and First Time Candidate Dan Shimell took the lead from Amezcua by Saturday while Immigrants Rights Advocate Sandra De Anda has continued to widen her lead over Bacerra – a 7-year incumbent who conceded on Saturday.
“The voters have seen what the POA (police officer’s association) is all about, what their candidates are all about, and speaking for my race in particular – Mayor Amezcua – her record over the last two years has not really reflected the values that our community wants,” Shimell said in a Monday phone interview.
Vazquez said the shift in Santa Ana has been 10 years in the making as a few grassroot campaigns for city council and the local school district started to win their election bids.
“We knocked on doors and we gave people a positive outlook. People that would fight up and stand up with the community. There were folks who have been in community with us,” he said in a Monday phone interview.
De Anda said public safety isn’t just about law enforcement
“It’s also providing stability for our neighbors and small businesses, and protecting our immigrant families from (President Donald) Trump’s ICE. Voters sent a message that they want accountability, transparency, and community investments and I think that the progressive candidates that we put forth this election season represented that hope of what public safety can be,” she said in a Monday phone interview.
While they are in the lead, progressive backed candidates received significantly less support in advertising spending from political action committees.
California Working Families Party, Chispa and OC Action collectively spent over $91,000 on their preferred candidates – Vazquez, De Anda and Ramos. Shimell did not receive independent expenditure support.
Shimell pointed out the massive spending disparity favoring Amezcua in the mayoral race.
“That tells you that people are tired of the big money in politics. They’re tired of trying to have races you know and candidates bought out from under them,” he said.
Jorge Contreras, state director of the California Working Families Party, said people across the region wanted a change in leadership and candidates like the ones in Santa Ana ran grassroots campaigns meeting residents face to face.
“People in Orange County and Santa Ana were sick of police unions and corporations trying to buy elections,” he said in a Monday phone interview.
“This was a wave election, and people wanted change, and they wanted real progressive people power champions, not corporate police supported, basically Republican-like candidates and establishment candidates and so I think that’s why there was a clean sweep across the board.”
Santa Ana Police Officer Association President John Kachirisky said they would negotiate in good faith with the city to get the best contract for the members they represent.
“It should be noted, we were joined by the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association in endorsing the same slate of candidates for Mayor and City Council because of our mutual support for public safety in the City of Santa Ana,” reads Kachirisky’s Monday statement.
“As a member of the Orange County Labor Federation, we will continue to push the shared values to stand up for our members, the working families of the Santa Ana Police Department.”
The council flip in Santa Ana comes two years after police-union endorsed candidates with support of Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan narrowly approved a three and half year contract in 2024 with the police union expected to cost the city $27 million despite questions on whether the city could afford it.
Phan almost faced a recall backed by the police union in 2023 but that recall effort failed because the union did not get enough signatures to put it on the ballot.
Shimell said he would take a more critical approach to contract negotiations with the police union than previous police-union backed politicians have.
Vazquez said officials would take a responsible approach to negotiations with the union.
“They’re not going to have the benefits of getting raises at a higher percentage than the other working class unions that we have or anybody in the city,” he said.
Anaheim Police Help Reelect an Incumbent; Oppose Mayor
In Anaheim, the local police union threw their support in favor of District 3 Incumbent Natalie Rubalcava and against Incumbent Mayor Ashleigh Aitken.
Both are on track to win reelection despite the union spending heavily against Aitken.
The Anaheim Police Association’s political action committee initially endorsed Aitken, but suspended their support after allegations she called her Chief of Staff Berenice Ballinas a “dirty Mexican” and constantly questioned Ballinas about her sexuality.
Aitken has publicly admitted to struggling with alcoholism in the wake of the scandal but denies using homophobic and racist slurs.
After suspension of their endorsement, the police union’s political action committee spent over $93,000 on things like mailers to oppose Aitken’s reelection bid against two relatively unknown political newcomers.
In Monday evening’s election result update, Aitken had roughly 56.3% of the vote, leading by over 18,000 votes. There were over 78,000 ballots in the race counted so far.
Aitken did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Meanwhile, the police union’s political action committee has donated nearly $90,000 to another spending group called “Anaheim Residents, Taxpayers, Public Safety Leaders, Small Businesses and Housing Advocates Supporting Natalie Rubalcava for City Council in 2026.”
That group had spent over $150,800 on mailers, digital ads and text messaging supporting Rubalcava as of Halloween.
In Monday evening’s election result update, Rubalcava had roughly 62% of the vote, leading by nearly 2,800 votes. There were over 11,500 ballots in the race counted so far.
The election comes on the heels of elected officials, including Aitken and Rubalcava, unanimously approving a nearly 17% wage hike for police officers over the next three years as part of a new contract with the police union that will cost city taxpayers $45 million.
Sheriff Deputies Union Spends Over $2 Million on Supervisors
One of the biggest bright spots for law enforcement unions in Orange County came in the race for county supervisor, where both winning candidates had the Association of Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies as their largest backer.
The union spent a combined $2.2 million supporting Democrats Connor Traut and Katrina Foley’s campaigns in the fourth and fifth districts, respectively, including around $250,000 spent against Foley’s opponent Diane Dixon.
As of Monday evening, Foley is holding over 52% of the vote, beating her opponent by nearly 9,700 votes while Traut held a narrower lead of around 5,000 votes over his opponent, putting him at just under 51.7% of the vote.
The union is still in the process of negotiating their new contract with county leaders after rejecting a previous offer of a one year, three percent contract the rest of the county’s bargaining groups also received.
