Changing Orange County, California, gives Democrats hope

Pushy midday shoppers nose their carts through the Korean market, stocking up on bottled kimchi and seaweed spring rolls. A few doors away, customers grab pho to go at a Vietnamese takeout counter. Across the street, lunchtime diners line up for tacos "al pastor" — spit-roasted pork — at a Mexican-style taqueria.

It's a snapshot of how much Orange County, California, has changed.

For decades, the county southeast of Los Angeles represented an archetype of middle-class America, a place whose name evoked a "Brady Bunch" conformity set amid freeways, megachurches and the spires of Disneyland. The mostly white, conservative homeowners voted with time-clock regularity for Republican candidates like Richard Nixon, whose getaway from Washington, the Western White House, sat on the coast.

In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, photo a campaign poster for Young Kim, who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California, hangs on a building sign advertising in multiple languages in Fullerton, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. A sign of the change is in the 39th District, where a Korean immigrant Republican, Young Kim, is running against a Hispanic Democrat, Gil Cisneros. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

The Korean barbecue shops and Mexican bakeries along Orangethorpe Avenue in Fullerton are a signpost of the shifting demographics and politics that have emboldened Democrats eager to flip four Republican-held U.S. House seats in Orange County. The districts, partly or completely within the county, went to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and have become closely watched national battlegrounds as part of Democrats' strategy to retake the House in November.

In an election season shaped by divisions over President Donald Trump and the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct, perhaps the most telling evidence of the changing county is in the 39th Congressional District.

The seat is held by long-serving Republican Rep. Ed Royce, a pillar of the Washington establishment who, like most of his party's nearly all-male leadership in Congress, is older and white.

In this Sept. 22, 2018, photo Gil Cisneros, a Democratic candidate who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California, greets supporters during a rally in Brea, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. Democrats this year hope to capture as many as four Republican-held U.S. House districts in the county. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

The contest to succeed the retiring congressman is between two very different candidates: Young Kim, a South Korean immigrant, woman and Republican, and Gil Cisneros, a Hispanic Democratic man.

The racially mixed ballot has opened questions about the relevance of party labels, race and the inclination to embrace one's own. It comes as Hispanics and Asians together now make up the majority of Orange County's 3.2 million people. In 1980, about 80 percent of the population was white.

The once-dominant Republican Party also is clinging to a tissue-thin edge over Democrats in voter registration numbers — a drop-off that reflects not just the arrival of new faces but their more liberal politics.

In this Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, photo supporters of Gil Cisneros, a Hispanic Democrat, who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California, cheer at a rally on the Cal State Fullerton campus in Fullerton, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. Democrats this year hope to capture as many as four Republican-held U.S. House seats in the county. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

Kim is trying to become the first Korean-American woman elected to Congress. She represents the kind of candidate the state GOP has been trying to cultivate for years to reflect a more diverse population.

Kim, 55, was born in South Korea and grew up in Guam, then later came to California for college. She became a small-business owner and got elected to the state Assembly.

She's running as Royce's preferred successor after working for him for years, but her path is complicated by Trump, who is unpopular in a state where Democrats hold every statewide office and a 39-14 advantage in House seats.

In this Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, photo Young Kim, a candidate who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California, talks to volunteers working an evening phone bank at her campaign office in Yorba Linda, Calif. Kim is trying to become the first Korean-American woman elected to Congress. A sign of the change is in the 39th District, where the Korean immigrant Republican, Kim, is running against Gil Cisneros, a Hispanic Democrat. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

Kim talked up the robust economy at a recent campaign stop, but she's also emphasizing her independence from the White House on issues like trade. She's not in favor of increased tariffs imposed by the administration.

She never mentioned the president in a brief speech.

"I'm a different kind of candidate," she said.

In this Sept. 22, 2018, photo buttons are displayed at a campaign rally for Gil Cisneros, a candidate who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California in Brea, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. A sign of change is in the 39th District, where a Korean immigrant Republican, Young Kim, is running against Cisneros, a Hispanic Democrat. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

As a Democrat, Cisneros, 47, knows he's the face of change in the long-held GOP district, anchored in northern Orange County and running through slices of neighboring Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. He sees shifting demographics as an asset: the district has grown about equally divided between Republicans, Democrats and independents, as it is with Asians, Hispanics and whites.

Cisneros, a Navy veteran and one-time Republican who won a $266 million lottery jackpot with his wife, describes his candidacy as the next step in a life committed to public service, which started with his time in the military. He has said he left the GOP because it became deeply conservative, adding in a recent interview that voters are eager to see a change in gridlocked Washington.

"This is not the same district that it was 15, or even 10 years ago," he said.

In this Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, photo Young Kim, a candidate who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California, smiles outside her campaign office in Yorba Linda, Calif. Kim is trying to become the first Korean-American woman elected to Congress. A sign of the change is in the 39th District, where the Korean immigrant Republican, Kim, is running against Gil Cisneros, a Hispanic Democrat. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

Orange County might seem like an unlikely battleground in the fight to control Congress. In popular culture, it is a place often reduced to initials, "the O.C.," and a stereotype: a wealthy enclave of buff residents living in conspicuous excess on hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Overlooked is the county's political pedigree: Its Republican-rich suburbs are seen as a foundation block in the modern conservative movement and the rise of the Reagan revolution.

Fullerton, like Orange County, was once known for groves of Valencia oranges that blanketed its landscape and oil fields that lay beneath it. That changed with the development of California's freeway system, which created the transportation arteries that gave rise to a vast Sunbelt suburbia.

In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 photo, flags wave at the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. The Korean barbecue shops and Mexican bakeries along busy thoroughfares speak to a more diverse population. Democrats this year hope to capture as many as four Republican-held U.S. House seats in the county. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

After World War II, jobs in defense and manufacturing were plentiful. The population boomed, and many of the new arrivals were from the Midwest, and conservative in their outlook.

Those voters, alienated by the rise of national liberalism, "ended up building the Ronald Reagan movement," said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles.

Several trends have been making the county more favorable for Democrats over time, said Paul Mitchell of Political Data Inc., a nonpartisan research firm. Among them: more Latinos and Asians are registering as independents and fewer as Republicans.

In this Oct. 1, 2018, photo Young Kim, a candidate who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California, speaks at a anti-gas tax rally in Fullerton, Calif. Kim is trying to become the first Korean-American woman elected to Congress. A sign of the change is in the 39th District, where the Korean immigrant Republican, Kim, is running against Gil Cisneros, a Hispanic Democrat. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

Much of that can be attributed to the preferences of younger Californians, who have been eschewing major-party labels.

Another big change is with the voting habits of Asians. A surge in immigration from Southeast Asia in the post-Vietnam War years brought in a wave of strongly anti-communist voters. But younger Asians grew up in a different era.

Millennial Asians "are some of the most liberal voters in the state," Mitchell said.

In this Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, photo Gil Cisneros, a candidate who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California, speaks during a rally on the Cal State Fullerton campus in Fullerton, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. A sign of the change is in the 39th District, where a Korean immigrant Republican, Young Kim, is running against a Hispanic Democrat, Cisneros. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

On a recent afternoon outside a library in Yorba Linda — the city where Nixon was born and where his presidential library was built — 76-year-old retired computer programmer Don Jacques of Brea said he welcomes the diversity on the ballot. The registered Democrat and Cisneros supporter has lived in the county since childhood.

"It's about time for this kind of change," Jacques said.

In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 photo, a resident on a bicycle makes his way down a street in a older neighborhood in Buena Park, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. The Korean barbecue shops and Mexican bakeries along busy thoroughfares speak to a more diverse population. Democrats this year hope to capture as many as four Republican-held U.S. House seats in the county. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

In this Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 photo, a supporter of Gil Cisneros, a Democratic candidate who running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California, stands at a rally on the Cal State Fullerton campus in Fullerton, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. Democrats this year hope to capture as many as four Republican-held U.S. House seats in the county. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

In this Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 photo, a supporter takes video of Gil Cisneros, a candidate who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California, during a rally on the Cal State Fullerton campus in Fullerton, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. A sign of the change is in the 39th District, where a Korean immigrant Republican, Young Kim, is running against a Hispanic Democrat, Cisneros. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

In this Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 photo, Gil Cisneros, right, a Democratic candidate who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California, greets former Vice President Joe Biden, left, during a rally on the Cal State Fullerton campus in Fullerton, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. Democrats this year hope to capture as many as four Republican-held U.S. House seats in the county. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

In this Sept. 22, 2018 photo, campaign literature for Gil Cisneros, a candidate who is running for a U.S. House seat in the 39th District in California displays, is displayed in multiple languages at a rally in Brea, Calif. For decades, Orange County, California, was known as a Republican stronghold but times have changed. A sign of the change is in the 39th District, where a Korean immigrant Republican, Young Kim, is running against a Hispanic Democrat, Cisneros. (AP PhotoChris Carlson)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union.

Prime Minister Miloš Vučević's government got backing in a 152-61 vote in the 250-member parliament. The remaining 37 lawmakers were absent.

The government includes former intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin, who has made several visits to Russia in recent months, as one of several vice-premiers, along with Nenad Popović, another Russia supporter who has faced U.S. sanctions.

The foreign minister in the previous government, Ivica Dačić, also a pro-Russia politician, will be in charge of the Interior Ministry in the new Cabinet.

The vote followed a heated two-day debate. President Aleksandar Vučić's ruling nationalist conservative Serbian Progressive Party holds a comfortable majority after an election in December that fueled political tensions because of reports of widespread irregularities.

The increasingly authoritarian Vučić has refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, though Serbia has condemned the aggression.

Vučević, the new prime minister, reiterated that Belgrade doesn't intend to impose sanctions on Russia and “cannot and will not give up" the friendship with Russia. Integration into the EU remains a ”strategic goal," Vucevic said.

"Best possible” relations with the U.S. also are in Serbia's interest, Vučević added. “I firmly believe that our relations can once again be on a high level.”

Security analyst and a Belgrade university professor Filip Ejdus described the new government's composition as a “spin" designed to send a message both to the West and Russia, and to voters at home.

“It sends a message to the EU that they should not push Belgrade too much over democracy, rule of law, or Kosovo if they want to keep Serbia in its orbit,” Ejdus said. “At the same time, it signals to Moscow a readiness to strengthen the strategic partnership with Russia.”

The U.S. imposed sanctions on Vulin in July, accusing him of involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said that Vulin used his public authority to help a U.S.-sanctioned Serbian arms dealer move illegal arms shipments across Serbia’s borders. Vulin is also accused of involvement in a drug trafficking ring, according to U.S. authorities.

Vulin, who in the past had served as both the army and police chief, has recently received two medals of honor from Russia, one from the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and the other was awarded to him by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Popović, a businessman and a former government minister, has “used his Russia-based businesses to enrich himself and gain close connections with Kremlin senior leaders,” the U.S. Treasury said last November in a statement.

The U.S. sanctions against individuals and companies in the Balkans are designed to counter attempts to undermine peace and stability in the volatile region and Russia's “malign” influence.

The West has stepped up efforts to lure the troubled region into its fold, fearing that Russia could stir unrest to avert attention from the war in Ukraine. The Balkans went through multiple wars in the 1990s, and tensions still persist.

Serbia's falling democracy record has pushed the country away from EU integration, explained Ejdus. Reports of election fraud at the Dec. 17 vote triggered street protests and clashes.

“Vučić is still pretending to be on the EU path because it’s beneficial for Serbia’s economy, and the EU tolerates his authoritarian tendencies out of fear of instability that could be caused in its backyard if Belgrade was lost to Russia and China,” Ejdus said.

Aleksandar Vulin, former director of Serbia's intelligence agency, right, smiles during a parliament session while Serbia's prime minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Serbia's new government will include a former intelligence chief, Aleksandar Vulin who has fostered close ties with Russia and is sanctioned by the United States. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia's Prime Minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia's Prime Minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia's former Prime Minister and Parliament speaker Ana Brnabic, left, speaks with Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic at the parliament session during her cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia's Prime Minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, front, speaks with Aleksandar Vulin, former director of Serbia's intelligence agency, who has fostered close ties with Russia and is sanctioned by the United States at the parliament session during the cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, left, kisses Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic after taking the oath during the cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and ministers of the new government of Serbia read their oaths at the parliament session during her cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)