“Been down so long it looks like up to me,” a line from a 1924 song by Memphis bluesman Furry Lewis, would be an apt motto for the California Republican Party. Carl DeMaio, just elected as a Republican Assemblymember from the 75th District, which includes non-coastal San Diego County, aims to change that.
He was a San Diego City councilmember from 2008-12 and later lost races for mayor and to the U.S. Congress. He also heads Reform California, which advocates such libertarian policies as cutting taxes and regulations.
DeMaio told me he blamed the dominant Democrats “for their bad ideas and because they’re in charge. These ideas are failing us.” But he quickly said, “I must blame the Republican Party of California for being inept and unwilling to fight. Republicans just want to accept scraps. They want to beg their master for mercy. It’s a sycophantic culture among some of them.”
Another problem is, even for fighting Republicans, “The infrastructure is not there currently. There’s no volunteer base. There’s no candidate bench. There’s no resources financially.”
The problem is “chicken and egg,” he said. Candidates need money to win. But donors usually give only to those in power. He plans to use Reform California to help Republicans break out of their funk and again be relevant.
As a superminority for six years, the GOP has suffered less than one-third of seats in both the Assembly and state Senate. That means it has close to no influence because the Democrats can, willy-nilly, enact tax increases and constitutional amendments without even glancing at Republicans.
Alas, in this election, although final tallies are not yet in, the Sacramento Bee reported both houses will remain under supermajority Democratic supremacy.
For 2026, DeMaio is looking at some major policy targets of opportunity. One came on Nov. 8 when the California Air Resources Board imposed draconian new Low Carbon Fuel Standards. That’s expected to raise California’s gas prices at the pump, already the highest in the country, another 65 cents, making the cost per gallon $2 above the national average.
DeMaio pointed out Gov. Gavin Newsom appoints 12 CARB voting members, who are approved by the Democratic supermajority Senate; and the supermajority Democratic Senate and Assembly each appoints a seat. Not one of those 14 voting board members is elected by the people. So much for the Democratic Party’s cant about “democracy.”
DeMaio attacked how CARB snuck in the new regs at 9 pm on a Friday three days after the Nov. 5 election. He said working-class families, especially, “are going to be punished with a higher cost of living,” but Newsom and the CARB functionaries “don’t care.”
He added part of the reason Kamala Harris lost was because she ran as a “Bay Area liberal” – like Newsom. DeMaio thinks that appellation, and the wails of Californians as they pump exorbitantly priced gas, will be heard across the nation as Newsom already is campaigning for president in 2028.
On other issues, DeMaio thinks Republicans can make inroads on homelessness and housing by emphasizing how regulations – imposed by Democrats – sharply raise the cost of building new housing. “California’s housing market is toxic for any investment,” he said. “And unless we have investment, we can’t get the supply.”
As to education, referencing the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, he decried how two thirds of students are failing math proficiency standards and a majority are failing reading and writing. Worse, he said, “80% of black students in California fail the proficiency exams. Across the board, Latinos are failing by about 78%. And so you want to talk about institutional racism? Democrats are running the school districts in California. Nobody is raising an issue about that.”
He favors “parental empowerment.” If a child fails a proficiency exam, “the parents of that school should automatically be entitled to a voucher to move their child to a public, private or home school.”
Things will start looking up in California when one-party rule is ended and Republicans start having a say again. DeMaio is pointing the way.
John Seiler is on the SCNG Editorial Board and blogs at johnseiler.substack.com