By Kevin Kiley – November 18, 2024
Kamala Harris is reportedly considering running for California Governor in 2026. If she does, the governorship will be seriously in play for Republicans. In fact, the last time Kamala sought a statewide office she came within one percent of losing.
Newsom, for his part, was just in DC. He held a lightly attended lunch with House Democrats and vowed to “Trump-proof” California. The main reaction was eye-rolling. As I said on Inside California Politics, the reality is California voters have started to Newsom-proof our state.
While Newsom was supposedly here to advocate for California, he only met with Democrats. When asked why he didn’t meet with Republicans – the Majority Party – he said because he’s “married to one.” (Fact check: he’s not.)
Meanwhile, there are still nearly a million votes to count in California. Everyone in DC is asking me why, and there is no good answer. At best, it is sheer incompetence from a broken state government. In this way, it offers the rest of the country a window into Newsom’s failures.
I’ve told them: If you think California is good at counting votes, just wait until you see how great our state is at building roads, storing water, running DMVs, and processing unemployment claims. And you’ll definitely want to take a ride on our state-of-the-art High Speed Rail.
Despite the vote-counting insanity, it was a great election for California. Republicans are close to flipping an Assembly district Biden won by 19 percent. This is in addition to the 5 million vote landslide for Prop. 36, the ouster of lawless DAs, and the strong rebound in GOP registration.
The shift in voter sentiment is unmistakable. And to top it all off, a court just threw out Newsom’s attempt to stop Huntington Beach from requiring voter ID. Another win for the Coalition for Common Sense.
Help me fight for common sense
Kevin Kiley is a California Congressman
