California Republicans are nearly dead. Here’s the way back

California Republicans are nearly extinct. But one-party Democratic rule has been terrible for the state. 

California needs a strong Republican Party — but Republicans also need a new vision for California.

The scale of the Republicans’ recent defeat cannot be overstated.

As bad as the 2026 midterm elections were for the party on the national level, they were even worse in California.

While votes are still being counted in close races, it appears that Republicans will be reduced to four seats in Congress — out of a congressional delegation of 52.

One reason is that Gavin Newsom and the Democrats redrew the district boundaries in Proposition 50. But Republicans would have suffered heavy losses anyway. 

The fact that Proposition 50 passed so easily in 2025 was an early warning sign of the coming “blue tsunami.”

Republicans also lost big in state races. 

Twenty years ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger won re-election as governor. That was the last time a Republican won statewide.

Steve Hilton ran a good race for governor, and was more popular than his party. But he lost by a wide margin. 

The Republicans fared no better at the legislative level.

The party’s leader in the State Assembly — the brilliant, telegenic Ali Macedo — acknowledged Saturday that she will likely lose her seat. Tony Strickland, a key Republican in the state Senate, is also out of a job.

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He is now aiming to lead the California Republican Party. The reason he has a decent chance is that few other Republicans won anything, either.

The most important Republican officeholder in California today is federal prosecutor Bill Essayli, whom President Donald Trump rescued from the state Legislature after Democrats abused their power and stripped him of his committee assignments. 

Democrats have held a supermajority in Sacramento for several terms running. Without effective opposition, Democrats have raised spending dramatically, from roughly $200 billion when Newsom took office to over $350 billion today.

There is little to show for that extra spending. The state’s infrastructure is crumbling, and public services are declining. 

Democrats have all the power they could possibly want — and yet seem powerless to prevent wildfires, or stop the spread of homelessness. 

Without a strong minority party, there is little oversight by the Legislature. And without oversight, there is massive growth in fraud, corruption, and mismanagement.

California only balanced its budget this year by borrowing from the state’s emergency savings — and there was no emergency. In fact, revenues had a huge boost from the growth of the artificial intelligence sector. 

The problem was spending. The future has structural deficits as far as the eye can see. And all Democrats can do is raise taxes.

Worse, voters seem to be willing to raise taxes along with them. Not just on billionaires, but on themselves.

In every major city, Californians voted to raise their sales or property taxes — in an election where voters also told pollsters that the cost of living was the top issue.

It’s not that voters are misinformed. It’s that they have no hope in the alternative.

The only “change” that seems possible is on the left. So voters elected a socialist as mayor in LA, and picked an insurance commissioner who seems to think the state should take over the industry.

Everyone has pet theories about why Republicans keep losing in California.

Some blame the party’s tough stance on illegal immigration in the 1990s. Others fault social conservatives for turning off voters in a state with a libertine culture. 

There is no doubt that anti-Trump sentiment also played a role, at least in the recent election. 

It’s also true that Republicans lost heart when Schwarzenegger turned to the left.

“Moderate” Schwarzenegger-era proposals like the “jungle” primary have devastated Republican political fortunes.

And many Republican voters simply gave up and voted with their feet, moving to other, redder states. (Some of which are now “blue.”)

There is only one way back: Republicans must explain what they believe, and contrast two visions for the future of California.

One vision is “democratic socialism,” the ideology that is rapidly taking over the Democratic Party.

“Democratic socialism” is, superficially, a utopian vision of an equal society, where every need is provided by the state, and every human activity is in harmony with the environment.

It sounds wonderful. But it can’t work, and will destroy the state.

California’s taxes and regulations are chasing businesses out of the state. Middle-class families and small business owners are leaving, unable to afford the cost of living.

Instead of making California more unequal, socialist policies are making inequality worse.

Likewise, much of what California does to “protect” the environment causes more pollution and destruction.

Letting brush grow naturally on state lands, for example, creates more fuel for wildfires. Shutting down local oil refineries means importing “dirty” oil. “Green” energy policies have almost no impact on global climate, but make life more expensive in California.

Republicans need a clear alternative: A vision of freedom.

Freedom is what makes California special. It’s what drew migrants from Oklahoma in the 1930s; flower children in the 1960s; and tech entrepreneurs in the 1990s. 

All the greatness we associate with California — from surfing to rock ’n’ roll — took root when the Golden State was a red state. It was a freer, and more hopeful, place.

Republicans need to bring back that focus on freedom, and fight to free Californians from the taxes, and costs, and headaches that make it impossible for people to pursue their dreams.

California Republicans also need to focus on local issues. They need to be advocates for the many people who will be left behind by Xavier Becerra’s radical policies.

Instead of following the lead of Republicans in other states, California Republicans can set the tone for 2028 by making freedom the focus, and standing up for ordinary people.

Freedom is the only cause that can unite the Republican Party in a winning coalition in 2028. The work will be hard. The good news is that it is the best cause worth fighting for.

Joel Pollak is Opinion editor of the California Post.