Looking back at my fondest and most tender moments growing up and into adulthood, they all have one common denominator: a Californian backdrop. It’s the state where I learned to read, where I first performed on a stage, where I had my most embarrassing middle school moments, where I had my heart broken, where I earned my first paycheck, where I found true love and tied the knot.
But the California I grew up in and cherished is now a distant memory. And that’s not just because I’ve spent early autumn packing up my life to leave the state to move to Virginia. More aptly, it’s because Sacramento stopped putting Californians first and shoved common sense to the back burner.
Raised Democrat by default, perhaps I didn’t see the festering wounds in my home state until it was too late. Once I had my political awakening in early adulthood and realized just how toxic the modern Left had become, the Sacramento machine had already been chugging full speed ahead into an unsustainable model.
My family came to California at a great time: living costs were high compared to the rest of the country, but still low enough for a middle-class family to thrive; parents had a say in their child’s education; and though there have always been unsafe pockets, the Golden State wasn’t tarnished by criminal-friendly policies.
I’ve watched firsthand what Gov. Gavin Newsom’s policies did to the state I’m leaving behind. In schools, girls have now lost private spaces when “inclusive” bathroom mandates took effect. Parents have been locked out of decisions about their own children. California is so quick to extend compassion to violent offenders, but moves at a snail's pace to protect the most vulnerable––particularly women and girls. So-called “criminal justice reform” has made our lives more dangerous by softening penalties, releasing offenders, and fueling theft and disorder.
When Newsom finally admitted earlier this year that letting men into women’s sports is “deeply unfair,” I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. This is the same governor who signed laws allowing men into women’s prisons, forcing schools to install all-gender bathrooms, and stripping parents of the right to be notified if their child is socially transitioned by bad actors at school. Women in prison are now sitting ducks, as violent male offenders can simply declare a non-male gender identity and get moved into women’s facilities. Newsom’s new tone may sound reasonable, but his actions have left women less safe.
California became a place where law-abiding families are punished while criminals and progressive activists are coddled––and where illegal immigrants are prioritized over residents. Newsom expanded taxpayer-funded health care to every “undocumented immigrant,” rushed out COVID-19 stimulus checks to those excluded from federal aid, and even entertained housing assistance programs for non-citizens. In contrast, lifelong Californians have been priced out of homeownership and forced to adopt the dystopian adage, “You will own nothing, and you will be happy.” For young couples like me and my husband, the message is unmistakable: play by the draconian rules, pay your herculean taxes, and you’ll still come last.
That has been California’s pattern under Newsom: drop rhetorical crumbs for moderates, but sneak radical policies into practice.
That’s why moving to Virginia feels like a second chance.
Virginia is where I plan to put down roots, and that means I care deeply about whether legislators will protect girls’ and women’s spaces, honor parental rights, and preserve fairness for girls. But watching Abigail Spanberger run for governor, I see the warning signs all over again.
Where Newsom at least tried to offer lip service to concerns about his radicalism, Spanberger hasn’t even bothered. In fact, she went even further by voting against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act altogether.
Spanberger likewise co-sponsored the Equality Act—cleverly named legislation that sounds righteous but in fact erases single-sex protections nationwide and locks parents out of decisions that belong to them. Spanberger has also voted against limiting sanctuary city funding and faithfully sided with President Joe Biden’s open-border agenda.
In other words, Spanberger has made it clear she has no problem with the policies that have destroyed California. In fact, if her record is any indication, she wants to bring them to Virginia.
If California is any warning to the rest of the nation––and God knows I’ve lamented time and time again that it is––Virginians should know precisely what’s on the horizon with a potential Spanberger administration.
California failed me, but I’m coming to Virginia with the hopes that I’ll be able to raise my family in a state that protects girls, respects parents, and rewards law-abiding citizens. Virginia is still that place, but it won’t be for long if it’s turned into California 2.0.
Andrea Mew is the managing editor of IW Features, the grassroots storytelling arm of Independent Women, and a contributing writer for Evie Magazine.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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