I’ve lived in the “land of fruits and nuts” for 12 years. My husband and I came to southern California when I was pregnant with our firstborn daughter for a work opportunity. It was a good one: spreading conservatism on the morning radio airwaves!
During that time on the radio and my subsequent work in the conservative movement in California, I’ve often heard the older generation lamenting the loss of an engaged, active GOP. They reminisce about the good old days when Ronald Reagan was the winner who helped them both federally and locally.
Since I’ve been alive (39 years), however, it seems that the California Republican Party has been tired, underfunded, and fractured. Despite wins on the federal level during Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s tenure, local and statewide offices have been lost to Democrats. And things in Sacramento went from a Democratic majority to a “super majority” in the state assembly, words I’d never heard in politics until I moved here in 2013…