I’ve lived in the “land of fruits and nuts” for 12 years. My husband and I came to southern California when I was pregnant with our firstborn daughter for a work opportunity. It was a good one: spreading conservatism on the morning radio airwaves! 

During that time on the radio and my subsequent work in the conservative movement in California, I’ve often heard the older generation lamenting the loss of an engaged, active GOP. They reminisce about the good old days when Ronald Reagan was the winner who helped them both federally and locally. 

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Since I’ve been alive (39 years), however, it seems that the California Republican Party has been tired, underfunded, and fractured. Despite wins on the federal level during Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s tenure, local and statewide offices have been lost to Democrats. And things in Sacramento went from a Democratic majority to a “super majority” in the state assembly, words I’d never heard in politics until I moved here in 2013. 

For over a decade, I’ve been actively preaching to that hardest-to-convince audience of small-government conservatives how awesome this state is and how incredible it would be if we enabled its residents. Fortunately, we have new evidence to show that Californians aren’t the left-coast wackos many in conservative media have made them out to be. They’re hard-working people in ministry, medicine, education, agriculture, and even Hollywood. Conservatives in the state have felt emboldened since the COVID-19 pandemic to fight back, and our numbers are growing.

A seed change occurred when Armenian and Latin immigrants stood up against the Los Angeles Unified School District, Glendale USD, and other California school districts when they tried implementing radical pride month reading programs without informing parents or getting their consent.

The energy level increased even more after Trump’s red wave of 2024 and again with disenchantment from leftist policies that literally allowed LA County to burn. We’ve also seen San Francisco and LA reject Soros-supported left-wing district attorneys. Instead, they elected Republican DAs who pledged to make shoplifting illegal again and to punish gangs, violent offenders, and even petty criminals. This is almost reminiscent of Rudy Giuliani’s changes to New York City in the late 90s. 

Put another way, change isn’t coming; it’s already here. 

Data released in the past week show that since Democrat Gavin Newsom became governor, Republicans have gained more than one million registered voters in California. The latest updates show that Republicans gained 125,000 voters over Democrats in the last few months alone. This marks the sixth consecutive time the California GOP has increased its share of voters.

Elizabeth Barcohana has been actively reregistering voters for almost two years. She came out of the closet as a MAGA supporter and became a member of the LA GOP Central Committee. She risked it all in her posh LA community to implement change.  

Barcohana: ”The energy, optimism, and attention generated by the mere announcement of these sky-high new registration numbers is evidence in and of itself that voter registration matters. Changing your voter registration is like a vote.”

Barcohana is right. In recently released data covering the period from November’s election to Feb. 10, 2025, more than 30,000 Republicans were added to the voting roster, while Democrats only added 560 voters. Yes, 560. This means that in LA County, the GOP is only 92,800 voters away from overtaking the Democrats in the state’s most-populated county.

CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS OPTIMISTIC AS THEY ELECT CORRIN RANKIN AS NEW STATE PARTY CHAIRWOMAN

Chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Republican Party, Roxanne Hoge, said, “Democrats have long been the 800-pound gorilla in the room in California. And what have they done with that incredible privilege? They’ve betrayed the trust of parents, business people, citizens, and legal residents alike by being unable to provide even a modicum of good governance. Of course people are taking a step to the right — we welcome everyone who joins us at the Republican Party. If you believe in common sense policies and public safety, our tent will cover you. You are not alone.”

If you’re a dissident in California like me, Elizabeth, and Roxanne, you are not alone. And our numbers are growing.