California Republican Party

Republican political operatives aren’t accustomed to chasing down last-minute voters this close to Election Day. But, in yet another reflection of what a strange year 2020 has been, they are. And they aren’t happy about it.  According to figures collected by the electoral information firm, Political Data Inc., a surprising 54% of the 8.4 million […]

California election officials assure voters their ballot is safe in drop boxes and the mail, yet some voters are hand delivering anyway.

In a press conference seemingly designed to deescalate a week-long legal standoff, declare victory and profoundly confuse the California press corps, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Secretary of State Alex Padilla said they would not be taking legal action against the California Republican Party for its makeshift ballot box program.  But the two Democrats insisted […]

The closer the November election gets, the tenser California’s political climate becomes. Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Attorney General Xavier Becerra — both Democrats — sent a cease-and-desist letter Monday to the California Republican Party, demanding it remove unofficial ballot drop boxes set up outside of churches and gun shops in several counties. The […]

After the electoral hammering California Republicans took in 2018, the party decided to put aside any misgivings it had about “ballot harvesting” and set up its own operation. In so doing, it’s now earned itself a cease-and-desist letter from California’s Democratic secretary of state. At issue: Unofficial ballot drop boxes that the state GOP purchased […]

When debate moderator Chris Wallace asked President Donald Trump last night whether he would urge his supporters “not to engage in any civil unrest” while ballots are being counted and to “not declare victory until the election has been independently certified,” the president responded with a very different appeal to his base. “I’m urging my […]

Yesterday Gov. Gavin Newsom leaned over the hood of an electric car and signed an executive order to phase out new gas-powered vehicles in California by 2035 and halt new fracking projects by 2024. It was exactly the kind of “big, hairy, audacious” move that Newsom has made his calling card: one guaranteed to generate […]

Republicans are in rough shape in California, still trailing in third place behind not just Democrats but also those with no party. The GOP gained a bit on independents this summer, but primarily because more independents were re-registering as Dems. Also not a new story: The election of President Donald Trump and an increasingly diverse […]

Welcome to the next installment of Insiders. Assemblymember Kevin Kiley, a 35-year-old Rocklin Republican with degrees from Harvard and Yale, left a promising law career to run for a state Legislature so heavily dominated by Democrats as to render Republican votes almost meaningless.  “I would do it all over again if I had the opportunity,” […]

As Election Day nears, GOP congressional hopefuls in California swing districts are zeroing in on a particular strategy:  Running for Washington by running against Sacramento. That means reminding voters that Democrats are in charge of California, and that life in California kinda sucks at the moment. Cue the attack ads featuring tent encampments, raging wildfires, […]