Usually talking, it’s a grand time to be a Republican within the nation’s capital.
President Trump is redecorating the White Home in his gold-plated picture. The GOP controls each homes of Congress. Two-thirds of the Supreme Courtroom was appointed by Republican presidents.
In California, the outlook for the GOP is much bleaker. The celebration hasn’t elected a statewide candidate in virtually twenty years; Democrats maintain an almost 2-to-1 voter registration edge and have supermajorities in each homes of the Legislature.
That’s lengthy been the story for a state celebration caught within the shadows in a deep-blue coastal state.
Will O’Neill, chairman, Republican Get together of Orange County, Mark Mueser, Dhillon Regulation Group, Shawn Metal, RNC Nationwide Committeeman, Garrett Fahy, chair, Republican Nationwide Legal professionals Affiliation, and California State Meeting member David Tangipa throughout the Redistricting Lawfare in 2025 session on the California GOP Conference in Backyard Grove on Saturday.
(Eric Thayer / For The Instances)
Nevertheless, amid a sea of “Trump 2028” T-shirts, crimson MAGA hats and sequined Americana-themed equipment, California Republicans had a quick reprieve from minority standing this weekend at their fall conference in Orange County.
Members of the California GOP — usually a fractious horde — have been energized and united by their opposition to Proposition 50, the poll measure crafted by Gov. Gavin Newsom and different Democratic leaders to redraw the state’s congressional districts to counter gerrymandering efforts in GOP-led states. Newsom accused Republicans of making an attempt to “rig” the 2026 election at Trump’s behest to maintain management of Congress.
Voters will resolve its destiny in a Nov. 4 particular election and obtain mail ballots roughly 4 weeks prior.
“Just one factor actually issues. We’ve gotten individuals in the identical room on this challenge that hated one another for 20 years, most likely for good causes, primarily based on ego,” mentioned Shawn Metal, one in every of California’s three members of the Republican Nationwide Committee and the chairman of the celebration’s anti-Proposition 50 marketing campaign, on Saturday. “However these days are over, no less than for the following 58 days. … That is extra than simply unity. It’s survival.”
If accepted, Proposition 50 may price Republicans 5 seats within the carefully divided U.S. Home of Representatives and decide management of Congress throughout Trump’s closing two years in workplace.
Greater than $40 million has already poured into campaigns supporting and opposing the trouble, in response to reviews of huge donations filed with the secretary of state’s workplace via Saturday.
Spending has been evident as shiny pamphlets opposing the trouble landed in voters’ mailboxes even earlier than lawmakers voted to place Proposition 50 on the poll. This weekend, adverts supporting the measure aired throughout the soccer sport between the College of Michigan and the College of Oklahoma.
On the state GOP conference, which drew 1,143 registered delegates, alternates and visitors to the Hyatt Regency in Backyard Grove, this precedence was evident.
Republican candidates working for governor subsequent 12 months would usually be targeted on constructing assist amongst donors and activists lower than a 12 months earlier than the first. However they foregrounded their opposition to Proposition 50 throughout the conference.
“I’m presupposed to say each time I begin speaking, the No. 1 most vital factor that we will speak about proper now could be ‘No on 50,’” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a GOP gubernatorial candidate, mentioned Saturday as he addressed the Log Cabin Republicans assembly. “So each dialog that you’ve got with individuals has to start with ‘No on 50.’ So that you say, ‘No on 50. Oh, how are you doing?’”
Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton are the 2 most outstanding Republican candidates within the crowded race to succeed Newsom, who will probably be termed out in 2026.
The partitions of the conference resort have been lined with posters opposing the redistricting poll measure, alongside typical marketing campaign fliers, rhinestone MAGA broaches and pro-Trump merchandise comparable to T-shirts bearing his visage that learn “Daddy’s Again!” and calling for his election to an unconstitutional third time period in 2028.
Although California Republicans final elected statewide candidates in 2006, they’ve had better success on poll measures. Since 2010, the celebration has been victorious in additional than 60% of the propositions it took a place on, in response to information compiled by the state GOP.
“We’d like you to be concerned. This can be a dire state of affairs,” state Assemblyman David Tangipa (R-Fresno) informed a packed ballroom of celebration activists.
The California GOP Conference in Backyard Grove, CA on Saturday, September 6, 2025. (Eric Thayer / For The Instances)
Attendees of the Redistricting Lawfare in 2025 session on the California GOP Conference in Backyard Grove. (Eric Thayer / For The Instances)
Tangipa urged the gang to achieve out to their buddies and neighbors with a easy message that’s not centered on redistricting, the esoteric means of redrawing congressional districts that usually happens as soon as each decade following the U.S. census to account for inhabitants shifts.
“It’s too arduous to speak about redistricting. You recognize, most individuals wish to get a beer, hang around with their household, go to work, spend time,” he mentioned. “That you must discuss to the Republicans [and ask] one query: Does Gov. Newsom and the legislative physique in Sacramento deserve extra energy?”
“No!” the gang roared.
Ought to the measure move, attorneys would problem the brand new strains in federal courtroom the following day, lawyer and former GOP candidate Mark Meuser mentioned throughout a separate redistricting panel.
However somewhat than depend on the courts, panelists hoped to defeat the measure on the poll field, outlining varied messaging methods for attendees to undertake. Voter outreach trainings befell throughout the conference, and related digital lessons have been scheduled to start Monday.
Even with the heavy deal with the redistricting poll measure, gubernatorial candidates have been additionally skittering across the conference, talking to numerous caucuses, greeting delegates within the hallways and holding personal conferences.
Greater than 80 individuals have signaled their intent to run for governor subsequent 12 months, in response to the secretary of state’s workplace, although some have since dropped out.
Regardless of being rivals who each hope to win one of many prime two spots within the June main and transfer on to the November 2026 common election, Bianco and Hilton amicably chatted, a two-man present all through a number of the conference.
Hilton, after posing alongside Bianco on the California MAGA gathering on Friday, argued that the variety of Californians who supported Trump within the 2024 election exhibits that there’s a pathway for a Republican to be elected governor subsequent 12 months.
Pointing to glittery gold block letters that spelled MAGA, he mentioned he needed to swap the primary A for a U, in order that the acronym stood for “essentially the most ineffective governor in America, Gavin Newsom.”
“The worst file of any state, the best unemployment, the best poverty, the best taxes, the best fuel costs,” Hilton mentioned. “If we will’t rip these individuals aside, then we don’t need to be right here. They’re going to be asking for one more 4 years. They don’t deserve one other 4 minutes.”
California gubernatorial candidate Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco speaks on the California GOP Conference in Backyard Grove.
(Eric Thayer / For The Instances)
At a Saturday gathering of roughly 60 delegates from the conservative northern swath of California, Bianco mentioned he would by no means say a nasty phrase about his Republican opponents. However, he argued, he was the one candidate who may win the election due to his means to siphon off Democratic votes due to his regulation enforcement bona fides.
“Democrats need their youngsters protected. They need their companies protected. They need their neighborhoods protected. They usually can say, ‘I’ll vote for public security.’ They’re not even going to say I’m voting for a Republican,” Bianco promised.
As he raised his palms to the gang with a smile, Bianco’s carefully cropped high-and-tight haircut and handlebar mustache immediately telegraphed his regulation enforcement background, though his badge and holstered pistol have been hidden beneath a grey blazer.
Later, after Bianco addressed a crowd of Central Coast delegates sporting extra cowboy hats and fewer button-down shirts, Hilton walked to the entrance of the room and spoke in his clipped British accent about how one other attendee had promised to take him pig searching.
California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks on the California GOP Conference in Backyard Grove.
(Eric Thayer / For The Instances)
“We weren’t speaking about cops, I wish to make that clear!” a person yelled from the gang.
“Precisely,” Hilton continued, explaining how his household had a salami enterprise in Hungary and he had gotten his palms lots soiled prior to now, “doing each facet of creating sausage, together with killing the pigs.”
