Democratic Party of Orange County elects Florice Hoffman as new chair

Orange County Democrats on Monday selected a new leadership team to guide the party into the 2026 midterm elections, with labor attorney Florice Hoffman as its new chair.

Running unopposed, Hoffman, 66, succeeds Ada Briceño, who served as chair for the past six years before she stepped down during the Democratic Party of Orange County Central Committee meeting held in Garden Grove.

Hoffman, an Orange resident, has held various positions within the party throughout the years, most recently as secretary.

As its new chair, she is focused on key objectives ahead of the midterms.

“Our main goal is to register, recruit and elect more Democrats in Orange County,” Hoffman said. “There are different strategies for different parts of the county. Although there are many of the same issues across the county, the way people and candidates handle them are different.”

Hoffman heads the party with a strong labor background that stretches back to her family roots.

In Pennsylvania, both of Hoffman’s parents organized with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. The garment industry is where she met her ex-husband, who was a labor organizer with the National Union of Healthcare Workers when he died of COVID-19 during the pandemic.

Briceño, who served as co-president of Unite Here Local 11 while being the second Latina to ever chair the party, brought an organizing approach to the party shaped by her labor movement experience.

Hoffman’s own background as a labor attorney ensures that the labor movement will continue to be a key constituent for Democrats.

“Our economic message has to be strengthened,” Hoffman said. “I hope that we can continue to work together with labor because most people in this county don’t want to be focused on culture war issues. They want to focus on people being able to live and having their children be able to afford housing.”

Hoffman is sworn into her new position, which she hopes to parlay into more political power for Democrats in O.C.

(James Carbone)

Hoffman’s first foray into O.C. Democratic politics came in 1995 when she knocked on doors for former Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s victorious congressional campaign, which signaled that the county was on the verge of a demographic and political shift.

Thirty years later, Hoffman takes helm of a party that has realized that shift mostly to its advantage, one that largely held after a bruising 2024 election season.

Democrats now hold all but one of O.C.’s congressional seats after Rep. Dave Min and Rep. Derek Tran won election in tight races as the county’s newest faces in the House of Representatives.

The party also maintains a slim majority on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Democrats did suffer setbacks in local elections, most notably in Huntington Beach where a pro-Trump slate wiped out three Democrat incumbents and bore “7-0” red Trump hats while taking the oath of office last month to flaunt total control of the City Council.

Hoffman hopes that with a central committee that’s as big as it has ever been and six vice chairs spread throughout the county, Democrats can make deeper inroads into purple political terrain.

As the majority party in O.C., Democrats hold a roughly 40,000 voter registration edge over Republicans, according to O.C. Registrar of Voters data.

But O.C.’s biggest third party is no party, with 23.1% of voters registered as independents.

Hoffman believes Democrats can make gains within that demographic, especially by enlisting the help of its state legislators and young Democrats.

“I am going to have a special Youth Advisory Committee with a focus on messaging to younger voters, and both in terms of outreach and registration,” she said. “I’m hoping to see a lot of young Democrats participate and focus on ways of bringing younger people into the party.”

Hoffman said the committee will be chaired by Perry Meade and newly elected Garden Grove Councilwoman Ariana Arestegui.

In addition to upping voter registration, Hoffman believes that the Democrats’ performance in key congressional races, which limited Republican control in the House to just five seats, warrants more attention on the local party, one that can help translate into a higher fundraising profile that builds on its base of smaller contributions.

Going forward, she hopes to build on the legacy of those who once held her position.

“I’m proud to stand on the shoulders of Ada Briceño, Fran Sdao and the chairs before them,” Hoffman said. “What we share in common is that we believe the values of the Democratic Party, but we all have different ways of getting there.”