- Lead
- 7,450
- Total
- 275,692
- vs nation
- R+1.2
California 72nd State House District
President margin by year
Place winner margin
President results by year
Modeled candidate-vote estimate on current district boundaries
- Lead
- 5,042
- Total
- 298,133
- vs nation
- R+2.8
- Lead
- 6,383
- Total
- 241,691
- vs nation
- R+4.7
- Lead
- 41,096
- Total
- 230,658
- vs nation
- R+21.7
- Lead
- 33,700
- Total
- 236,117
- vs nation
- R+21.5
- Lead
- 71,422
- Total
- 224,657
- vs nation
- R+29.3
- Lead
- 53,326
- Total
- 202,011
- vs nation
- R+26.9
- Lead
- 43,265
- Total
- 179,199
- vs nation
- R+32.7
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+2.7MIT Election Lab
- Population
- 494,5332024 5-year
- Population density
- 4,135 / sq mi2024 5-year · TIGER/Line
- Land area
- 120 sq miTIGER/Line
- Median household income
- $125,8622024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 61.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 17.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+33.6 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+67.9 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Assembly District 71, CA · twin score 91.8
presidential history
Party record book
California 72nd State House District · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
1892–2024 · 34 presidential cycles
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Joe Biden2020
49.8%
148,571 votes · D+1.7 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936 · 48.7%
Republican
Herbert Hoover1928
83.1%
6,986 votes · R+67.9 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Ronald Reagan, 1984 · 78.9%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Joe Biden2020
148,571votes
49.8% of the vote · D+1.7 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Kamala Harris, 2024 · 130,074 votes
Republican
George W. Bush2004
146,669votes
65.3% of the vote · R+31.8 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Ronald Reagan, 1984 · 145,193 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
Woodrow Wilson1912
+14.0pts D vs U.S.
Place D+33.6 · U.S. D+19.5 · a third-party candidate carried the Place · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Kamala Harris, 2024 · −1.2 pts
Republican
Herbert Hoover1928
+50.5pts R vs U.S.
Place R+67.9 · U.S. R+17.5 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Barry Goldwater, 1964 · +46.1 pts
Current officeholders
State legislative officeholder from OpenStates nightly current-legislator data.
Senate and governor results are in the Office selector at the top of this page.
U.S. House
Each row is a county-allocated estimate of U.S. House votes for this district — county returns apportioned onto its boundary, not precinct-counted. “Vote lead” is the estimated local lead here, not necessarily the winner of the full contest.
Assembly District 72, anchored in Orange County, has become a closely watched battleground where suburban voters have shifted incrementally rightward over successive election cycles, making it one of the more competitive lower-chamber seats in the state.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 33.6 points in 1912 and a Republican high of 67.9 points in 1928. Between 2020 and 2024 the district moved 4.4 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 2.7 points.
A population of 494,533, a 61% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $125,862 describe the district. The district's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Assembly District 71 and Assembly District 59.
The state-house districts whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
District research tools
Open the source-auditable district brief for electoral baseline, electorate, current-cycle coverage, geography, official dates, and methodology. Open campaign intelligence report → · Browse all comparisons →
California 72nd State House District. Akashic. https://akashic.app/sld-lower/06072/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.