a top motivator in this election<\/a> is pushing back against the administration\u2018s policies.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m not really anticipating Republicans winning for anything statewide,\u201d said Jon Fleischman, a conservative writer and former executive director of the California GOP. \u201cIf somebody\u2019s anticipating that, then they don\u2019t know how to do math.\u201d<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t expect Republican turnout to drop, but \u201cDemocrat turnout could be enhanced over what it normally is. Maybe it\u2019s a distinction without a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some Republicans are frustrated by the Democratic-only choices in the high-profile race for Los Angeles mayor, as well as the down-ballot contest for state insurance commissioner.<\/p>\n
Darvish, who supported conservative Spencer Pratt for L.A. mayor in the primary, described the runoff between incumbent Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman as a choice between \u201cSatan and Lucifer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to have to vote for Karen Bass,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard for me to say that,\u201d but she does not want Raman or any candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America to win.<\/p>\n
Some Republicans say they won\u2019t vote for insurance commissioner, the only statewide race between two Democrats: Jane Kim, a former San Francisco supervisor, and state Sen. Ben Allen.<\/p>\n
Fleischman described the DSA-endorsed Kim as \u201cnuts\u201d and Allen, who represents Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, Beverly Hills and other cities, as \u201can extreme liberal\u201d who \u201chas enthusiastically supported virtually every Gavin Newsom policy I dislike.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Trump and Republicans will likely suffer midterm losses, many Democrats are \u201cmassively unpopular as well,\u201d said Republican strategist Rob Stutzman. \u201cAll politicians are underwater right now. Voters are in a pretty bad mood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hilton concedes it would be easier to run a midterm race with a sitting Democratic president, but believes the Trump endorsement is not as toxic to his campaign as it might seem.<\/p>\n
![\"Republican](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792863972_819_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton enjoys a light moment with a woman who was happy to get gas for $3 a gallon at a gas station in Los Angeles on Oct. 8.<\/p>\n
(Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t come up in really any of the meetings,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople really are asking about gas prices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Republican candidates and party officials are making the case that California\u2019s longstanding homelessness and cost-of-living woes have little to do with the president.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t think of anything less relevant\u201d than Trump, said Roxanne Hoge, chair of the Los Angeles Republican Party. \u201cWe are drowning in high taxes and high costs. Anyone trying to make this election about who the president is \u2014 and who will only be president for two more years \u2014 has a screw loose and also doesn\u2019t have much of anything to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hilton doesn\u2019t engage in voter fraud allegations<\/p>\n
Federal authorities this week charged 28 people in California with illegally registering and casting ballots as part of a broader fight to exert more control over elections, which are run by states.<\/p>\n
Having just won an election primary in June, Hilton walks a line when discussing claims of electoral fraud. He takes issue with rules like ballot harvesting and a seven-day, post-election deadline for mail ballots to arrive, but he does not believe there is systemic fraud or cheating.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe mustn\u2019t let ourselves believe that every time we lose an election, it\u2019s because they cheated,\u201d he said when a supporter made the accusation during a Modesto town hall in August. \u201cWe lose the elections [because] we don\u2019t win enough votes, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Viewers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792863973_564_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Viewers attend a watch party at Victorio\u2019s Ristorante in North Hollywood during the debate between gubernatorial candidates Democrat Xavier Becerra, left, and Republican Steve Hilton earlier this month.<\/p>\n
(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why he is trying to reach independent voters and Democrats who \u201ccan\u2019t stand President Trump\u201d but \u201care desperate for something to change in California,\u201d he explained as applause rippled through the heavily Republican crowd.<\/p>\n
Hilton is counting on voters like Summer Behan, a former Democrat, to not only vote for him but persuade other disenchanted voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy car got broken into 14 times in a year and a half,\u201d Behan told Hilton during the Modesto event. \u201cOur homeowners insurance went from $180 to $860, so we had to sell our house.\u201d <\/p>\n
She drives more than two hours to her nonprofit job in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sort of an exhausting way to live,\u201d Behan said after the town hall. Families from her children\u2019s schools have moved to other states, but she wants to stay. \u201cCalifornia is beautiful, and it\u2019s just got so much to offer people, so I want to try and stick it out and see what it looks like with different leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MISSION VIEJO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Twenty years after the GOP last won a state-level election in California, few Republican voters believe this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,6198,13540,17634,195812,1751,204,4674,24696,592,3020,195811,17382,195813,72],"class_list":["post-506767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-california-republicans","tag-candidate","tag-choice","tag-democratic-president","tag-democrats","tag-election","tag-election-day","tag-party","tag-people","tag-president-trump","tag-rachel-darvish","tag-steve-hilton","tag-summer-behan","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506767","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=506767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Republican](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792863971_921_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"California](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792863972_848_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n