Half of Orange County residents believe their county government is run by powerful insiders, according to the latest UCI-OC Poll .
“This skepticism is shared across party lines almost entirely,” said Jon B. Gould, poll director and dean of UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology. “Republicans, Democrats and Independents all land within a few points of each other.”
Republicans came in at 51%, Democrats at 47% and Independents at 53%.
The poll , which surveyed 1,202 Orange County adults in March 2026, found that residents trust local institutions far more than Washington, with 60% expressing trust in their local police department and just 25% trusting the federal government. But trust in local institutions does not mean residents think those institutions are working equally for everyone.
Gould points to Independents as a group worth watching.
With their trust in county government at just 32%, lower than either Democrats or Republicans, and representing more than a third of all county residents, he describes their persistent skepticism as “a concerning part of the civic landscape.”
The poll also asked whether Orange County residents want structural reform, including expanding the Board of Supervisors and creating an elected County Executive.
Forty-seven percent said yes, but 27% said they weren’t sure, one of the largest undecided shares on any question in the survey.
Gould contrasts that with neighboring Los Angeles, where 88% of voters supported a similar proposal that later passed as Measure G. Orange County residents, he says, are “concerned about how county government operates, but not yet united behind a specific reform.”
One of the more surprising findings involves younger residents.
While Gen Z (people born between 1997 and 2012) is the least likely age group to trust local government or law enforcement, they trust local community organizations at 59% — higher than any other age group and well above the countywide average of 52%.
“The picture is not one of blanket distrust,” Gould said. “It reflects a generational difference in which younger residents are more skeptical of government and law enforcement while maintaining greater confidence in grassroots community organizations.”
The full report is available on ISSUU and on the UCI-OC Poll website .