At one time in its history, The Golden State was a red state. It is the state from which the tax revolt, popularized by Governor and then President Ronald Reagan, was launched in the United States. Recently, however, the Republican Party in California has been slowly dying.
As reported by The Sacramento Business Journal, Republican registration in the state has dropped seven points over the last decade. This new data from the Public Policy Institute of California shows that 43.9 percent of the registered population are Democrats, but Republican registration has declined to 28.9 percent. In addition, independent voters are more likely to lean Democratic. Four out of 10 independents lean Democratic, versus three out of 10 who lean Republican.
It is now virtually impossible for a Republican to hold statewide office positions such as Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Senator.
One could argue that the California GOP was officially dead since last years election, when the Democrats gained a super majority in both houses, and a Democratic governor and lieutenant governor. Pure Democratic legislation can now be passed in the state with no attention paid to the Republican representatives.
On top of this, the GOP lost one of their county strongholds, Riverside County, where three Republicans were replaced by Democrats in the state assembly, state senate, and the US Congress. In addition, the county voted to re-elect President Obama, proving that he was not chosen the first time based on Obamamania only. Although most local, state and federal legislators from Riverside County are still Republicans, this is expected to change with the shifting demographics, and the further death of the state party.
With the national Republican Party moving ever further to the right, is California simply a preview of the demographics death spiral the GOP is facing?
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