Commentary – The Vibe Shift: As California Moves to Political Right, Dem Lawmakers Dig Their Heels In

The Vibe Shift is an ongoing series covering the political, institutional, and cultural realignment in California caused by Trump’s win in the 2024 presidential election.

By G. Maciel De La Vega | California Black Media

The Vibe Shift is an ongoing series covering the political, institutional, and cultural realignment in California caused by Trump’s win in the 2024 presidential election. 

On March 16, the California Republican Party elected its first Black female chair, Corrin Rankin. However, she doesn’t want her identity to be a part of the story; “I’m a qualified person who happens to be a woman who happens to be Black. We’re a party based on merit. If you have the qualifications and the experience, you should have the job, and it doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is,” she said in a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.

Her words present a view that largely contrasts with the prevailing perspective held by many in the California Democratic Party who have typically made race a central issue.  

With the Republican and Democratic parties each pushing further to the Right and Left, respectively, there appears to be a broader political realignment of Black and Latino voters nationally on the fraying from the Democratic Party. 

In the 2024 presidential election, California’s 12 majority Latino counties shifted rightward, voting for President Trump in greater numbers than in 2020. Nationally, Trump enjoyed support from about 30% of Black men under 45, according to AP Vote Cast.

The political shift is underscored by a cultural shift that has been in the making for some time. In 2019, Kanye West – a Trump supporter and California influencer — told Black Americans, “Own your power. Your power is not to just vote Democrat for the rest of our lives. That’s not the power.”

Joining Kanye is an ever-growing list of Black and pop culture influencers, including Amber Rose, who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, UFC Champion Jon Jones, rapper Lil Wayne, NFL stars Terrell Owens and Herschel Walker, Azealia Banks, boxing star Mike Tyson, and perhaps the most famous Californian of all, Snoop Dogg. 

There have been Democratic Party defections in the political arena, too. Former Democratic Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, who endorsed Trump in 2024, citing concerns with kitchen table issues, immigration, and culture.

“As a straight male, religious, pro-capitalist person, the policies of the Democratic Party are incompatible with my civic interests. More than 30 percent of African American men between the ages of 45 and 64 supported Donald Trump because the Democratic Party gave us no options,” Ridley-Thomas told CBM in a phone interview. 

That’s not our fault. That’s the Democratic Party’s fault. It is intolerant, it is anti-capitalist, and it is hostile towards religion,” Ridley-Thomas continued. 

“They think that welfare and handouts and endless migration are attractive to Black men. They are not. Tax limitation, closed borders, community safety and pro-family policies are much more attractive. If this trend continues, it will be impossible for Democrats to win the presidency in the future.”

Ridley-Thomas ended by highlighting the cultural issues around LGBTQIA+ which have long been championed by the Democratic Party, but have, perhaps, splintered their coalition. 

“Prop 8 passed for a reason and the radical Democrats wouldn’t let it go. The Supreme Court action in overthrowing it distorts the sensitivities that people have. We have a new category of sexual identity called ‘zoo,’ which was called ‘furry’ a year ago. Too many names, too many micro-minorities, and the definitions expansion does not match up with kitchen table economics. Another category on the rainbow flag has not helped lower the cost of living or improve our quality of life.”

I think that the Democratic message is lost, is not focused. It does not center on quality of life, American identity, or American exceptionalism. The Democratic Party wants to be associated with losers, Black men and Christians want to be winners.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom similarly seems to be shifting to the cultural Middle. Although he undoubtedly has a record of standing up for LGBTQIA+ issues, his support is not uncritical. He recently hosted conservative political activist Charlie Kirk on his podcast, This is Gavin Newsom. In the interview, Newsom voiced his opposition to transgender female athletes in girls and women’s sports. 

“I think it’s an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair,” Newsom said during the podcast with Kirk.  

“There’s also a humility and a grace,” Newsom continued. “You know that these poor people are more likely to commit suicide, have anxiety and depression and the way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with as well. So, both things I can hold in my hand. How can we address this issue with the kind of decency that I think you know.”

Both the timing and substance of Newsom’s recent comments infuriated some Democrats and progressives across California. However, despite his recent comments, Newsom has not taken a public position on AB 89, authored by Kate Sanchez (R-Trabuco Canyon), which would ban transgender girls from interscholastic sports in California.

The next week, Newsom sat down for a talk with Steve Bannon, chief strategist of the 2016 Trump Presidential Campaign. With a 2028 presidential run all but certain, Newsom appears to be positioning himself closer to the political center and adopting the podcasting media model that has been so popular with the Right wing. 

Despite political movement and positioning to the Left and Right of them, California Legislative Democrats seem unmoved. Rather, they are digging their heels in and firming their grips on long-held political and cultural orthodoxies. 

Rankin’s rise to Chair of the California Republican Party comes just weeks after the California Legislative Latino Caucus confirmed that –despite a record number of Republican Latino lawmakers — Republican Latinos will continue to be excluded from the California Latino Legislative Caucus. 

In doing so, the Latino Caucus leadership confirms that they are using taxpayer-funded staff and resources to exclude Latino lawmakers representing over 4 million Californians based on partisan politics. 

With the Vibe Shift in full force, California Legislative Democrats appear to be banking on more of the same. Perhaps they should be admired for their persistence. Time will tell. 

Join us next week on The Vibe Shift as we examine the dismantling of private sector DEI programs in California.