POLITICS: California Dems are nervous about Republicans speaking out and taking control

California’s Democratic politicians like to say they’re leading the nation and the world with their bold, brave policies, but lately it looks like they’re trailing the parade.

It’s not just that the inauguration of President Donald Trump brought a flood of different bold, brave policies — which California’s beleaguered taxpayers have been ordered by their state government to pay $50 million to oppose.

It’s also that the state’s Democratic leaders, despite their party’s absolute control of California’s government, are acting nervous and snappish about a handful of Republicans speaking out on important issues.

Even Gov. Gavin Newsom, scratching for national relevance as he maneuvers toward a 2028 run for the presidency, is obsessing about the influence of Republican podcasts and trying to get himself in front of their audiences.

On his own newly launched podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom,” California’s sitting governor chats breezily about policy with conservatives on the national scene, as if auditioning for a Sunday afternoon talk show. Casual viewers would never guess that Newsom is currently in office and actually has the power to do the things he says he supports

For example, Newsom made news on the premiere edition of his podcast by agreeing with the conservative founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, that “it’s deeply unfair” to allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.

That prompted California Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli to ask why Newsom is not supporting his proposed legislation, Assembly Bill 844, which would reverse a 2013 state law that allowed biological boys to compete in girls’ sports. “You’re the governor, not a commentator,” Essayli wrote in a post on X.

A week earlier, Essayli was one of five outspoken Republicans who were removed from their committees late on a Friday night by the leader of the Democratic supermajority in the Assembly, Speaker Robert Rivas. No misconduct was cited. The GOP lawmakers were bounced after they publicly questioned Democratic policies and government spending.

During a budget hearing, for instance, Assemblyman Carl DeMaio asked an administration official how much the state was spending to provide unlimited health insurance benefits to all illegal immigrants, exposing that the annual cost is in excess of $9.5 billion.

DeMaio and his staff also found $25 million in ongoing spending for a “COVID-19 Workplace Outreach” program that was, in DeMaio’s words, “laundering of taxpayer money to far left-wing political groups.”

In appreciation of this work, Rivas threw DeMaio off the Budget Committee.

Other Assembly Republicans were removed from their committees after such “offenses” as opposing the bullet train, warning that the state’s mishandling of the insurance crisis will cause premiums to rise 200% or more, and attempting to ban the use of nondisclosure agreements in the legislative process. Yes, California lawmakers sign NDAs about legislation.

On the other side of the Capitol, Senate supermajority leader Mike McGuire has restricted the access of journalists, banning them from their longtime work desks inside the Senate chamber and forbidding TV news cameras in the hallway outside its doors.

Why so touchy? Democrats hold all statewide offices in California and more than a two-thirds majority in the legislature. One party has total control of everything in state government.

But the November election results gave reason to think the other party may soon regain the will to live.

Statewide, voters were more conservative than the supermajority control of the legislature would indicate. They overwhelmingly approved a tough-on-crime measure that Newsom had fiercely opposed. They strongly rejected the legislature’s proposal to make it easier for local governments to borrow money and raise property tax bills. They voted down an initiative that would have enabled radical local rent control.

Some Republicans are working to advance popular measures that Democratic leaders oppose.

Essayli and DeMaio have formed a campaign committee to raise funds to put a voter ID initiative on the November 2026 ballot. DeMaio cites a January poll from Public Opinion Strategies, commissioned by his group, that shows support from 68% of California voters, including a majority of Democrats.

This follows an election that saw weeks of ballot counting steadily erode and then overturn the early leads of several Republicans in congressional races.

California law requires counties to accept mail ballots that arrive up to seven days after the polls close, and a postmark is not necessarily required, opening a vulnerability to old-fashioned ballot-box stuffing.

The proposed initiative, not yet finalized, would require voters to present a government ID at the polls to vote in person, or, if voting by mail, to write their driver’s license or state ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number on the return envelope.

Thirty-six states currently require some form of ID to vote, but not California, Illinois or New York. All three states feature “trifecta” Democratic Party control of the governor’s office and both houses of the legislature. There had been 17 states under full Democratic party control, but Michigan and Minnesota voted differently in 2024 and now it’s 15.

In California, the defensiveness of Democratic leaders signals their fear that voters will draw cause-and-effect connections between government mismanagement and the state’s high taxes, crime rates, electricity costs, gas prices, housing costs and poverty. This could see Democratic control eventually — if not swiftly — erode.

This should frighten Democrats nationwide. Because if it can happen in California, it can happen anywhere.