Editing Orange County, North Carolina (section)

==Law and government==
{{Further|List of commissioners of Orange County, North Carolina}}
Orange County is governed by a seven-member board of commissioners. The commissioners are elected to four-year terms by district and at-large in partisan elections, which are held in November of even-numbered years. Orange County is a member of the regional [[Triangle J Council of Governments]].

===Politics===
Orange County has gained a reputation as one of the most [[Liberalism|liberal]] counties in North Carolina. The county consistently delivers one of the largest Democratic majorities in the state in presidential, state, and local elections. This trend predates the recent swing toward the Democrats in counties dominated by college towns. The last Republican to win the county at a presidential level was [[Herbert Hoover]] in 1928<ref>Sullivan, Robert David; [http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’]; ''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016</ref> – when opposition to the Catholicism of Democratic nominee [[Al Smith]] was a powerful force among voters. It has only supported a Republican two other times since the Civil War–[[William Howard Taft]] in 1908 and [[William McKinley]] in 1900.<ref>The Political Graveyard; [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/NC/OR-votes.html Orange County, North Carolina Votes for President]</ref>

The county seat of Hillsborough, the city of Chapel Hill and the town of [[Carrboro, North Carolina|Carrboro]] historically vote for Democratic candidates, while the rural areas of the county favor Republicans.<ref name= yeoman>{{cite news| last = Yeoman| first = Barry| title = Schoolyard Brawl| newspaper = The Assembly| date = August 7, 2023| url = https://www.theassemblync.com/education/orange-county-schools-diversity-education/| access-date = August 8, 2023}}</ref>

{{PresHead|place=Orange County, North Carolina|whig=no|source1=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 17, 2018}}</ref>|source2=<ref>{{cite web |title=Géographie électorale |trans-title=Electoral geography |website=geoelections.free.fr |url=http://geoelections.free.fr/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051118120032/http://geoelections.free.fr/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 18, 2005 |language=fr |access-date=January 13, 2021}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP/Whig vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|20,806|65,444|1,557|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|20,176|63,594|1,227|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|18,557|59,923|3,860|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|21,539|53,901|1,317|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|20,266|53,806|838|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|20,771|42,910|472|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|17,930|30,921|493|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|15,053|28,674|3,038|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|13,009|28,595|5,696|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|14,503|22,326|238|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1984|Democratic|15,585|20,564|128|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|9,261|15,226|4,102|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|9,302|15,755|169|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1972|Democratic|11,632|12,634|142|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1968|Democratic|6,097|8,366|3,845|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|5,785|9,206|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|5,231|7,180|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|4,396|4,743|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|3,813|5,156|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|1,813|3,523|507|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|1,467|3,274|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|1,100|3,673|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|1,446|3,860|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|1,114|2,924|165|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|2,564|1,799|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|1,065|1,879|66|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|1,737|1,993|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|1,158|1,230|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|172|997|825|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|1,073|1,017|2|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1904|Democratic|558|900|25|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|1,280|1,275|10|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1896|Democratic|1,264|1,700|14|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|936|1,117|777|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1888|Democratic|1,299|1,613|35|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1884|Democratic|1,064|1,668|8|North Carolina}}
{{PresFoot|1880|Democratic|1,902|2,537|0|North Carolina}}

Chapel Hill and [[Carrboro, North Carolina|Carrboro]] have a reputation for being two of the most liberal communities in the [[Southern United States]]. Carrboro was the first municipality in [[North Carolina]] to elect an openly gay [[mayor]], [[Michael R. Nelson (politician)|Mike Nelson]] (who also served as an Orange County commissioner from 2006 to 2010), and the first municipality in the state to grant [[domestic partnership|domestic-partner]] benefits to same-sex couples. In October 2002, Carrboro was among the first municipalities in the South to pass resolutions opposing the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|Iraq War]] and the [[USA PATRIOT Act]]. Orange County voted 78.98% against [[North Carolina Amendment 1|Amendment 1]]. This was the highest vote against a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage of any [[County (United States)|county]] in the United States, even higher than [[San Francisco]] in 2008.<ref>[http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NC/Orange/36664/85728/en/summary.html OFFICIAL RESULTS]</ref>