Gov. Gavin Newsom answering the Republican redistricting power-grab in Texas with a plan of his personal is a robust instance of how Golden State Democrats are standing as much as President Trump and firing up their base. However whereas the partisan fireworks draw consideration, California Democrats are additionally quietly providing a distinct form of mannequin for the nationwide celebration which will show extra significant in the long term. They’re not simply resisting Trump; they’re really governing.
Overlook what you suppose you understand about California and its lefty Democrats. They’re inching to the middle, assembly voters the place they’re, and it’s bettering individuals’s lives.
Simply have a look at San Francisco, lengthy seen as a dysfunctional emblem of failed progressive governance.
Town’s new mayor, Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit chief and philanthropist, has shaken off left-wing taboos and centered on delivering results. As an alternative of defunding the police, he’s hiring extra officers and cracking down on shoplifting and drug crimes. As an alternative of demonizing the enterprise group, he’s partnering with them. He’s additionally reforming zoning legal guidelines to make it simpler to construct extra housing, which ought to ease the town’s affordability crunch and the homelessness disaster. Lurie has been in workplace lower than a 12 months, however already crime is plummeting and his approval fee has reached 73%.
Nationwide Democrats can discover a lesson right here: Voters care about outcomes, not simply empathy and beliefs.
In Sacramento, Newsom and legislative Democrats are taking an analogous tack, with a cussed give attention to affordability and the braveness to stare down opposition, even in their very own coalition. For instance, the Legislature not too long ago reformed the California Environmental High quality Act, a well-intentioned 50-year-old regulation that had been twisted to impede development tasks, clear vitality growth and public transportation. This angered some highly effective environmental activists, however it is going to finally assist convey down prices for housing and vitality.
CEQA reform is emblematic of California’s new, extra balanced strategy on some thorny points, like vitality and local weather. The state not too long ago introduced that two-thirds of its energy now comes from clear vitality sources — a significant achievement. On the similar time, Newsom and the Legislature agreed to a bundle of payments that may enhance oil drilling whereas extending the state’s cap-and-trade program. Collectively, the bundle can cut back vitality prices for Californians and strengthen our state’s possibilities of reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. Some environmental justice advocates and local weather purists oppose the deal, however it’s an instance of the best way to make progress in the long run whereas addressing affordability within the quick time period.
Immigration is one other instance: Newsom and different main California Democrats proceed to face as much as the Trump administration’s inhumane immigration insurance policies, together with suing to cease the deployment of troops to Los Angeles. However additionally they not too long ago handed a funds that pulls back on expensive plans to offer medical health insurance to all low-income undocumented immigrants.
This displays the brand new California mannequin: principled resistance and pragmatic governance. The outcomes communicate for themselves. The Golden State not too long ago surpassed Japan to change into the fourth-largest economic system on the planet.
Democratic leaders are making these strikes as a result of they’re listening to voters who constantly say that the excessive price of residing is their top concern.
In 2024, these considerations contributed to a stunning variety of Californians abandoning Democrats, even with Kamala Harris, the state’s former U.S. senator and lawyer basic, on the ticket. Trump flipped 10 counties and boosted his assist in 45. Since 2016, 72% of California counties have gotten redder, together with many with heavy Latino populations.
Democrats are paying consideration and are correctly altering course. Being aware of voter considerations doesn’t must imply sacrificing core values, however it does require new approaches when the previous methods aren’t working.
Karen Skelton (whose father is a political columnist for the Los Angeles Instances) is a political strategist, having labored within the White Home beneath Presidents Clinton and Biden and at the US Departments of Vitality, Transportation and Justice.
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Concepts expressed within the piece
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California Democrats are demonstrating efficient governance by transferring towards the political heart whereas sustaining their core values, providing a mannequin for the nationwide Democratic Occasion that goes past mere resistance to Trump’s insurance policies.
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San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie exemplifies this pragmatic strategy by hiring extra law enforcement officials, cracking down on shoplifting and drug crimes, and partnering with the enterprise group fairly than demonizing it, leading to plummeting crime charges and a 73% approval score.
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Sacramento Democrats are prioritizing affordability and sensible outcomes over ideological purity, as demonstrated by their reform of the California Environmental High quality Act regardless of opposition from environmental activists, finally serving to to cut back housing and vitality prices.
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The state’s balanced strategy to vitality and local weather coverage reveals how Democrats could make long-term progress whereas addressing instant affordability considerations, attaining two-thirds clear vitality energy whereas additionally rising oil drilling by a cap-and-trade bundle.
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On immigration, California Democrats keep principled resistance to Trump’s insurance policies whereas making pragmatic funds choices, akin to pulling again on expensive plans to offer medical health insurance to all low-income undocumented immigrants.
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This strategic shift displays Democrats’ responsiveness to voter considerations concerning the excessive price of residing, which contributed to Trump gaining assist in 10 counties and 45 others in 2024, with 72% of California counties changing into redder since 2016.
Completely different views on the subject
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Republican leaders view California’s redistricting response as a partisan energy seize fairly than principled governance, with some vowing to problem the maps in court docket and arguing that the redistricting course of violates the California Structure by counting on outdated inhabitants knowledge[1].
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Environmental activists and local weather advocates oppose California’s pragmatic strategy to vitality coverage, notably the bundle that will increase oil drilling whereas extending cap-and-trade packages, viewing it as a betrayal of environmental justice rules.
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Progressive organizations initially opposed California’s redistricting efforts, with Widespread Trigger, a superb governance group supporting impartial redistricting, initially opposing the state’s partisan response earlier than later reversing its stance[1].
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Some Democratic constituencies argue that pulling again on progressive insurance policies like common healthcare for undocumented immigrants represents an abandonment of core Democratic values fairly than pragmatic governance.
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Critics contend that the centrist shift represents capitulation to conservative strain fairly than principled management, arguing that Democrats ought to keep their progressive positions fairly than moderating in response to political setbacks.
