As of October 2023, Republicans represent approximately 23.9% of the state's registered voters, placing the party far behind the California Democratic Party which has 46.8% of registered voters.[3] The party is a super minority in the California State Legislature, holding less than 1/3 (33.3%) of the seats in both chambers of the legislature: 17 seats out of 80 in the California State Assembly (21%), and 9 seats out of 40 in the California State Senate (23%). The party holds none of the eight statewide executive branch offices, 12 of the state's 52 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives delegation (23%), and neither of California's seats in the U.S. Senate.
The Republican Party was born in 1854 as a primary vehicle to oppose the expansion of slavery in the United States. In 1856, Republicans nominated John C. Frémont, one of California's inaugural senators, for the 1856 presidential election,[5] but he lost the state by a wide margin to Democrat and eventual winner James Buchanan, though he did win the state of New York. Later in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency as the first Republican president. The Republican Party would emerge as primary opposition to the Democratic Party until the present day.
California Republicans and Democrats were competitive throughout the late 19th century. In 1878, Republican California Senator Aaron A. Sargent introduced the language that would become the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which would allow women the right to vote.[5]
Republicans dominated state politics for most of the 20th century (they controlled the state senate from 1891 to 1958) until the 1960s when the Democrats once again became competitive with the rightward shift of the Republican Party, exemplified by their nomination of Barry Goldwater in 1964 (Goldwater lost California in a landslide).[6] Republicans still saw ample success up until the 1990s. George H. W. Bush carried the state in 1988 after Ronald Reagan twice carried the state in 1984 and 1980. Pete Wilson was elected Senator in 1988, and John Seymour was the last Republican Senator from California after being appointed to the seat in 1991.
California's Latino and Asian populations grew significantly in the 1990s and the growing segment of voters were turned off by the Republican Party's hard-line stance on immigration (the Party closely tied itself to Proposition 187). Democrats have won most elections at the state, local, and federal levels since the 2000s by comfortable margins. For example, despite failing to win the presidency, Hillary Clinton won a higher percentage of votes than any candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt.[6]
Still, California elected Arnold Schwarzenegger twice for governor. Schwarzenegger and Steve Poizner, who later became an independent, are the last Republicans to win statewide elections in California.
California has two Republican presidents in U.S. history: Richard Nixon, who was a U.S. representative and senator from California, and Ronald Reagan, who was a governor of California (1967–1975). Herbert Hoover also studied in California and lived there for a number of years. Other notable California Republicans include former Governor and Chief Justice Earl Warren, former Governor and Senator Hiram Johnson, and former Senator and founder of Stanford UniversityLeland Stanford.[5]
In 2018, the California Republican Party had fewer registered voters than voters registered with a no party preference option, but that trend reversed in 2020.[7][8]
The following is a list of Republican statewide, federal, and legislative officeholders:
Members of Congress
U.S. Senate
None
Both of California's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 1992. John F. Seymour is the last Republican to have represented California in the U.S. Senate. Appointed in 1991 by Pete Wilson who resigned his Class I Senate seat because he was elected governor in 1990, Seymour lost the 1992 special election to Democratic challenger Dianne Feinstein for the remainder of the term expiring in 1995. Feinstein held the seat until her death in 2023. Pete Wilson is the last Republican to have won an election to represent California in the U.S. Senate, when he won in 1988. He is also the last Republican to represent California for a full term in the U.S. Senate from 1983 to 1989.
With the passage of Prop 14 in 2010 setting up a jungle primary system in California, there was a period of 10 years (2012–2022) in which no Republican made the general election for the US Senate, as Republicans were locked out from the general elections in both the 2016 election and the 2018 election.
California has not had a Republican in a state-wide elected office since January 2011. Republicans were last elected to a statewide office in 2006, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was re-elected as governor and Steve Poizner was elected as insurance commissioner. In 2010, term limits prevented Schwarzenegger from seeking a third term while Poizner chose not to seek re-election as California insurance commissioner, instead making an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for new governor. In 2018, Poizner attempted to run again for his old seat of insurance commissioner, but did so without the affiliation to the Republican Party.
The last Republican to serve as lieutenant governor is Abel Maldonado, who was appointed in 2010 by Schwarzenegger to fill the vacancy when John Garamendi resigned to take a seat in Congress. Maldonado lost his election in 2010 for a full term, and left office in January 2011. The last Republican elected to the position is Mike Curb, who was elected in 1978 and served until January 1983.
The last Republican to serve as Attorney general is Dan Lungren who was elected in 1990, reelected in 1994, and served until January 1999.
The last Republican to serve as Secretary of State is Bruce McPherson who was appointed to the position in 2005 when the previous Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, resigned. McPherson lost the election for a full term in 2006 and left office in January 2007. The last Republican elected to the position is Bill Jones who was elected in 1994, reelected in 1998 and served until January 2003.
The last Republican to serve as State controller is Houston I. Flournoy who was elected in 1966, reelected in 1970, and served until January 1975.
The last Republican to serve as the Superintendent of Public Instruction (which is officially a non-partisan position) is Max Rafferty, who was elected in 1962, reelected in 1966, and served until January 1971.
Republicans are in the minority, holding nine of the 40 seats in the State Senate. Republicans have been the minority party in the Senate since 1970. California Republicans gained a seat following Alvarado-Gil switching her party.[11]
Republicans hold 17 of the 80 seats in the State Assembly.[12] The last time the Republicans were the majority party in the Assembly was during 1994–1996.
Ahead of the 2024 National Convention, the state party changed its rules for awarding delegates in order to comply with the rules of the national party (failure to do so would have resulted in a cut of 50% to the number of delegates the state party gets to send to the national convention). Under the new system, delegates are awarded based on the statewide results, rather than results within the individual districts. At the urging of the Donald Trump presidential campaign, the rules were also changed that if a candidate receives more than 50% of the primary votes, the candidate gets 100% of the state's 169 allotted delegates. If no candidate gets 50% of the primary vote, then delegates are awarded proportionally.[16]
Participation of "independent" voters
Since January 2001, California has had a "modified" closed primary system in which political parties can determine whether or not to allow voters who are not affiliated with any party (i.e. "independent") to participate in the party's primary. The passage of Proposition 14 limited this "modified" closed primary system to primaries for President of the United States, starting with the 2012 primaries. Since the adoption of the "modified" closed primary system, the California Republican Party has allowed "independent" voters to vote in Republican primaries only in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 (for 2008, the allowance applied to all primaries except for the presidential primary).[17]
Governance
The California Republican Party is a "political party that has detailed statutory provisions applicable to its operation", which are in division 7, part 3 of the California Elections Code.[18][19] The Republican State Central Committee (RSCC), the governing body of the California Republican Party, functions pursuant to its standing rules and bylaws.[20][21][22] The RSCC works together with the Republican county central committees and district central committees,[22] with county central committees appointing delegates to the RSCC.[23] The regular officers of the RSCC are the chairman, state vice chairman, eight regional vice chairmen, secretary, and treasurer.[24]
County central committees
There are semi-autonomous county central committees for each of California's 58 counties.[18][22] At every direct primary election (presidential primary) or when district boundaries are redrawn,[25] their members are either elected by supervisor district or Assembly district depending on the county.[26]
County central committees
County party
Elected members
Republican Party of Los Angeles County
Assembly district committee members elected at the direct primary elections.[27]
Republican Party of San Diego County
Six regular members elected from each Assembly district in the county.[28]
Republican Party of Orange County
Six members elected from each Assembly district.[29][30]
^ abEu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee (1989), 489 U.S. 214Archived 2014-03-12 at the Wayback Machine. "The State of California heavily regulates its political parties. … The California Elections Code (Code) provides that the 'official governing bodies' for such a party are its 'state convention,' 'state central committee,' and 'county central committees,' …"
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