{"id":261739,"date":"2026-04-10T22:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T22:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/261739\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T22:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T22:11:09","slug":"coachella-eats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/261739\/","title":{"rendered":"Coachella eats"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend\u2019s California Republican Party convention was poised to be a drama-filled event. The party held out a slim hope that its two gubernatorial candidates, if they played nicely enough, could lock Democrats out<\/a> of the November election and reclaim statewide office for the first time in 20 years.<\/p>\n

But then President Donald Trump weighed in, backing former Fox News host Steve Hilton over Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.<\/p>\n

Now, the state party\u2019s endorsement is far less consequential.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe screwed over California Republicans yet again,\u201d said Rob Stutzman, a Republican political consultant, of Trump. \u201cIt’s just political malpractice to not have done a dual endorsement,\u201d he added. \u201cPeople were briefing the White House on the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The weekend\u2019s festivities in San Diego mark the first gathering since the state GOP\u2019s bruising loss last November on Proposition 50<\/a>, the Democrats\u2019 gerrymandering plan designed to oust five Republicans from Congress in the midterm election. That loss only magnified the state party\u2019s growing irrelevance<\/a> since the ouster and resignation of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the Bakersfield congressmember who made sure the national GOP didn\u2019t forget about its California members.<\/p>\n

The gubernatorial contest, as well as legislative races, had become the new focal points for a party in search of a way out of the political wilderness. Trump\u2019s endorsement probably dashed any hope of a Republican governor, leaving the Legislature as Republicans\u2019 best chance for wins.<\/p>\n

He screwed over California Republicans yet again.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Republican consultant Rob Stutzman on President Donald Trump’s emdorsement in the governor’s race.<\/p>\n

Bianco, who recently made headlines for seizing hundreds of thousands of ballots<\/a> over claims of alleged voter fraud, is still expected to put up a fight for the 60% of delegate votes required to earn the party endorsement. Hilton will likely consolidate GOP support as loyal base voters fall in line behind Trump. Even without the party\u2019s endorsement, Hilton is well positioned to finish in the top-two in June.<\/p>\n

But the president\u2019s nod is practically the kiss of death for a general election candidate in deep blue California, a state where even some Republicans tout bucking the president as a talking point on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big fight if you’re trying to be elected governor is actually to have a broad-based appeal in California,\u201d said Matt Rexroad, a Republican campaign consultant who used to work for Bianco. \u201cPresident Trump doesn’t provide that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chad<\/p>\n

Republican candidates Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton participate in a gubernatorial candidate forum at Fresno State on April 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Larry Valenzuela<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

CalMatters<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

Without the drama surrounding the gubernatorial endorsement, Rexroad decided the convention was no longer worth attending. He canceled his flight from Sacramento and his hotel reservation in San Diego, opting instead to send a proxy ballot with another delegate friend. Rexroad planned to back Bianco.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s popularity has fallen dramatically nationally since the war in Iran began and gas prices have skyrocketed, worsening his already poor standing among heavily Democratic California voters. Both Bianco and Hilton have sought to minimize their support for Trump, as nearly three-quarters of Californians disapprove of him, and many strategists believed the party\u2019s best shot at the governorship was keeping the president out of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe party is relevant in some localities of the state. But on a statewide basis, the Republican Party is like the Democratic Party in Utah,\u201d said Mike Murphy, a former Republican consultant.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t think of a worse brand than Donald Trump in California,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cIf they cancel the Republican state convention, as far as state politics are concerned, it\u2019d make no difference to the outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Down the ticket, Republicans hope to hold and maybe even pick up additional seats in the state Legislature.<\/p>\n

GOP looks down-ballot for an opening<\/p>\n

With a brand irretrievably tied to Trump, one strategy for clawing back Republican losses is to focus on more conservative, inland parts of the state in local races. That includes pockets of Southern California, where Latino voters swung heavily in favor of Trump in 2024 and the party picked up three statehouse seats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s really going to be the difference-maker for Republicans in California is really focusing the ground game on districts that matter,\u201d and raising money, said Jon Fleischman, a longtime Republican consultant. \u201cIf we can hold the seats we are capable of holding on a year that looks like a wave year for Democrats, then Republicans will do really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

First-time GOP Assemblymembers Jeff Gonzalez<\/a> of Coachella and Leticia Castillo<\/a> of Corona are examples. Each ran a successful campaign in their predominately Latino and slightly left-leaning districts in 2024.<\/p>\n

Seeking vengeance, a handful of Democrats have lined up to unseat Gonzalez. Meanwhile, Castillo will face an old challenger. Both Republicans will be walking into this weekend with the party\u2019s endorsement already in hand.<\/p>\n

Castillo clinched her seat by fewer than 600 votes two years ago, defeating Riverside City Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes, who had more money and name recognition. But Cervantes, who sought to replace her sister, Riverside Democratic state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes<\/a>, led a campaign that was muddied by revelations of Clarissa Cervantes\u2019 two DUI convictions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Assemblymember<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Leticia Castillo at her desk during a floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 23, 2025.<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Fred Greaves<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

CalMatters<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

Gonzalez, a retired Marine, flipped his Coachella Valley district in 2024, which swung for Trump by fewer than two percentage points. He faces three other Democrats, including Indio City Councilmember Oscar Ortiz, and so far has amassed a bigger war chest than all of them.<\/p>\n

Some Republicans also worry whether the party is headed in the right direction. In San Diego, local infighting over whether a moderate or far-right candidate would be best positioned to succeed term-limited Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones<\/a> has stunted the party\u2019s ability to back a single candidate.<\/p>\n

Jones and the party establishment have backed Ed Musgrove, a San Marcos City Councilmember, while Assemblymember Carl DeMaio<\/a> and his group Reform California<\/a> are pushing for two-time unsuccessful candidate Kristie Bruce-Lane.<\/p>\n

Republicans could also look to flip a newly competitive San Diego district represented by first-term Democratic lawmaker Catherine Blakespear<\/a>. The district has been trending leftward since redistricting in 2020 pulled in more parts of liberal San Diego County and dropped portions of more conservative Orange County. Blakespear has significantly outraised her two GOP competitors, Laura Bassett and Armen Kurdian, one of whom could be endorsed this weekend.<\/p>\n

Incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Niello<\/a> of Roseville could also face a more difficult than usual path to reelection in a midterm where moderate Republicans in liberal areas will have to fight the anti-Trump momentum.<\/p>\n

A challenging picture in the U.S. House<\/p>\n

Post-Prop. 50, California\u2019s five remaining incumbent Republican House members face a bleak road to reelection. The districts were redrawn so drastically that several members have chosen to vacate their original seats and seek reelection in different districts.<\/p>\n

Rep. Kevin Kiley, a Roseville resident whose current district spans much of the California-Nevada border, left the GOP entirely and is running as an independent for a Sacramento-area seat that Prop. 50 made more conservative. Rather than risk his political future by challenging Rep. Tom McClintock, an influential party fixture, Kiley settled on the 6th Congressional District after months of deliberation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is, I think, probably an attempt to salvage something of a career later down the road by putting in the old college try,\u201d said Mike Madrid, an anti-Trump Republican strategist and co-founder of The Lincoln Project.<\/p>\n

Longtime Rep. Darrell Issa, whose San Diego County district went from a Republican stronghold to a toss-up<\/a>, announced his retirement barely before the deadline to file for the ballot. He reportedly explored moving to Texas to seek reelection there, but abandoned that plan when he failed to earn Trump\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

And rather than retire as the longest-serving congressional Republican in California history, incumbent Rep. Ken Calvert is seeking to topple his colleague, Rep. Young Kim, in pursuit of an 18th term after his Inland Empire district was drastically reshaped into a liberal stronghold. Each has raised millions of dollars<\/a> that they will undoubtedly deploy as they fight for one of the only remaining solidly Republican seats in California.<\/p>\n

One bright spot for Republicans could be Rep. David Valadao\u2019s campaign<\/a> in the Central Valley. The six-term congressman has worked to distance himself from Trump over the years, voting in favor of the president\u2019s second impeachment after the Jan. 6 insurrection attacks. He has only lost reelection once, in 2018 as part of an anti-Trump blue wave. He won back his seat in 2020 in the same election that former President Joe Biden won his district by double digits.<\/p>\n

But Valadao faces one of his most difficult reelections yet as Democrats seek to saddle him with his vote for the GOP\u2019s mega budget bill, which has stripped hundreds of thousands of his own constituents of their health insurance through Medi-Cal.<\/p>\n

If California Republicans want to notch wins in races like Valadao\u2019s, they know they need to motivate their voters to show up in November for what\u2019s expected to be a bruising election for GOP candidates up and down the ticket.<\/p>\n

The weekend\u2019s gathering in San Diego should provide a good pulse check. Trump\u2019s endorsement in the gubernatorial race could energize the base. Or, it might convince enough GOP voters that the result is a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on CalMatters<\/a> and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives<\/a> license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This weekend\u2019s California Republican Party convention was poised to be a drama-filled event. The party held out a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":{"0":"post-261739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-la","9":"tag-la-headlines","10":"tag-la-news","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","13":"tag-los-angeles-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}