How far can Trump-fueled fury take California Democrats in 2026?
Good morning, it’s Tuesday, June 3. Welcome to the A.M. Alert!
DEMS WANT THE RESISTANCE 2.0
Six months after the election, Democrats are unable to coalesce around a plan to convince working class voters to stick with them and still feel lost at sea.
Party leaders in California know the affordability crisis, if left unchecked, could become their own political crisis. While several Democrats picked up several swing congressional districts last year, Trump gained ground in the state in part because 2 million people who voted in 2020 stayed home in 2024.
But Democrats are not completely rudderless: the tried-and-true “resistance” playbook from President Donald Trump’s first term is already being put to use as Dems target swing-district Republicans like Reps. David Valadao, Young Kim and Ken Calvert for supporting Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill that could affect access to Medicaid.
“I know 2026 feels like a long time away, but I can guarantee that Californians in those communities are feeling the impacts” of the GOP agenda, California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks said at the party’s statewide convention in Anaheim over the weekend.
One year out from the 2026 primary, Democratic voters want their next governor to fight Trump, said voter data guru Paul Mitchell. That’s according to a poll he conducted last month of more than 1,100 Democratic and left-leaning voters.
“Balancing the budget, fixing schools, transportation, homelessness, all those issues are actually less important to (Democratic) voters in this cycle than they were in 2018,” Mitchell said at the convention. “It’s like the Trump fighting message has gotten to be even more important than it was back then.”
“Ironically, they want a lieutenant governor who’s got experience,” he said. “They want a governor who’s going to fight Trump.”
Just one in three likely California voters approve of Trump’s performance, according to a February PPIC survey.
Respondents to Mitchell’s poll heavily favored former Vice President Kamala Harris (44%) and former Rep. Katie Porter (28%) to replace outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom. The rest of the candidates were in single digits.
When asked about dealing with at least two years of a Trump administration, all eight major Democrats who’ve announced campaigns for governor told The Bee they would both fight Trump and work with him when necessary. Read their full responses to a series of questions in Monday’s A.M. Alert.
AN OVERGROWN AGENCY
Via William Melhado...
An independent state oversight agency issued a green light to the governor’s plan to reorganize the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency to allow the Golden State to focus more attention on housing issues.
The agency, which currently oversees 12 entities, including the California Horse Racing Board and the Civil Rights Department, has “outgrown its current administrative structure,” the Little Hoover Commission wrote in a Monday report.
Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed creating the housing-specific agency as a way to increase California’s focus on homelessness and housing issues plaguing the state.
“It is true that many of the specific reforms envisioned in the plan could in fact be achieved even without a reorganization,” the oversight agency wrote in its recommendation. “But we believe the changes envisioned in this plan can, if properly implemented, make concrete improvements in the state’s housing policy.”
The proposal to cleave the current entity into a new Housing and Homelessness Agency and the Business and Consumer Services Agency would cost $4.2 million in the next fiscal year. The new housing agency would have an added ongoing annual cost of over $6 million, which would largely go towards personnel expenses to hire several more employees for the Housing and Homelessness Agency.
The commission expressed concerns about both the additional cost and potential delays associated with the reorganization, but endorsed the proposal to create the housing-specific agency as a means of building more affordable homes in California.
To improve the reorganization, the commission recommended legislation that would study state programs that should potentially be moved under the new housing agency and require both agencies submit progress reports.
The Legislature has until July 4 to reject the proposal. Absent majority opposition in either chamber, the reorganization plan will move forward.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We don’t need another ‘select committee’ to tell us what most Californians already know.”
— Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, whose caucus launched a “Cost of Living” week
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This story was originally published June 3, 2025 at 4:55 AM with the headline "How far can Trump-fueled fury take California Democrats in 2026?."
