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Democrat Katie Porter won a Republican seat in the United States in the heart of Reagan country in southern California on Thursday, extending the defeat of the GOP House delegation.(Photo: Chris Carlson / Associated Press)

LOS ANGELES – Democrat Katie Porter won a US House seat on Thursday at US House headquarters in the heart of what was once Reagan country in southern California, prolonging the rout of the state delegation, the GOP House.

Porter's anger in Orange County is a testament to developments in a region previously known nationally as a GOP fortress. The coastal county south-east of Los Angeles was home to President Richard Nixon, whom President Ronald Reagan once compared to a Republican paradise.

Porter, law professor and protégé of Massachusetts' Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, beat Republican Representative Mimi Walters, who was re-elected following a walk in the 45th district just two years ago. The latest vote count update gave Porter 51 percent and an advance of 6,203 votes.

Porter, 44, has campaigned for a flawless Liberal agenda and in direct opposition to President Donald Trump's priorities: advocating reversing his tax reform package, supporting universal health care, and approving mandatory background checks on all gun sales and the prohibition of so-called style weapon assaults.

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She said she was running "to hold Donald Trump and the powerful special interests in Washington responsible."

In a statement Thursday, Porter said that she "will bring back responsibility to Washington." She promised to protect health care and the environment and to fight for a tax system in which "everyone pays its fair share".

As a political newcomer, Porter overcame considerable obstacles. The district has a 7-point lead over the Republican record and Walters was re-elected in 2016 by 17 points, even though Hillary Clinton brought the district by 5 points in 2016.

The California Democrats' group targeted the heavily suburban district after Clinton won them two years ago.

With the victory of Porter, the Democrats won three GOP seats, in whole or in part in Orange County, and they threaten to win another district where votes continue to be counted.

If the Democrat Gil Cisneros wins this indecisive race against Republican Young Kim in the 39th district where Ed Royce, the GOP's general representative, withdraws, the county once considered a Republican holy land does not have a GOP representative in Congress .

In returns Thursday, Cisneros took 941 votes ahead after Kim took the advantage.

Previously, Democrat Mike Levin had won the long held seat of retired Rep. Darrell Issa, who runs through the southern part of the county, and Democrat Harley Rouda overthrew the 15-term representative in the county's 48th coastal district. Democrats also seized GOP-held seats north of Los Angeles and in the Central Agricultural Valley.

With Porter's victory, Democrats will have at least a 44-9 advantage in the US House. They occupy all positions in the state, a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature and a 3.7 million advantage in voter registration.

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