Haynes Foundation grant supports survey expansion
UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology has received a $300,000 grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation to expand its UCI-OC Poll, a comprehensive public opinion research initiative for Orange County.
Awarded to Jon Gould, dean of the School of Social Ecology and director of the poll, the two-year grant will transform the polling initiative into a sustained effort conducted three times per year.
“Orange County is one of the few truly ‘purple’ counties in America, a place where the left and right not only live side-by-side but must find a way to collaborate to get things done,” Gould said. “As the county has grown, its leaders need reliable methods to track and analyze residents’ concerns, views and priorities on a variety of pressing issues so that we are not forced to rely on anecdotal understandings or the feedback from the handful of residents who show up for city council meetings.”
In politically “purple” Orange County, the poll functions as a civic platform that engages community leaders, business representatives and elected officials in collective dialogue and problem-solving.
“The challenges we face can seem overwhelming and beyond our capacity as members of local communities. Yet, it is at the local level that we may find opportunities to work with our neighbors and locally accountable leaders to address the problems we can see with our own eyes,” noted Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Haynes Foundation.
Orange County’s evolution from a Republican stronghold to a competitive swing county makes it an ideal laboratory for understanding how residents navigate political differences and approach governance challenges. Providing crucial insights into public opinion in one of California’s most politically dynamic counties, the UCI-OC Poll has found:
- Homelessness and affordable housing top resident concerns
- The OC is the county to watch in predicting upcoming elections
- “Purple” county offers model for consensus
- Half of Orange County’s residents have or are considering relocation
- OC voters believe that the U.S. and California are on the wrong track
- OC residents prefer offering legal status to undocumented
- There are significant generational differences between white, Latino and Asian residents
- The federal government’s clash with California over recent immigration raids seems to have improved Californians’ impression of Gov. Newsom
- OC residents overwhelmingly favor new immigration policy
The Haynes funding will allow Gould and the research team to continue conducting regular, comprehensive polling that captures the views of Orange County’s varied communities, from traditionally conservative areas to increasingly progressive districts.
“The UCI-OC Poll represents a significant investment in understanding public opinion in one of California's most politically important counties, providing insights that extend far beyond Orange County's borders,” Gould said.
The Haynes award is one of five major Research-to-Action grants totaling more than $1.2 million. Other recipients include USC ($100,000 for AI and democracy research and $349,785 for faith-based governance research), Loyola Marymount University ($314,863 for LA County reform research), and UCLA ($300,000 for homelessness metrics research).
“These research efforts are timely, impactful, and create a sense of hope that we can make measurable, thoughtful progress in improving how government can make decisions and how the public can be best served,” Sonenshein noted.
— Mimi Ko Cruz