Trump 'remains strong' in deep red parts of California — despite his 'crippling' policies

16 May

President Donald Trump in the White House on March 20, 2025 (The White House/Flickr)

Before the 1990s, California was a very strong state for Republicans. San Francisco and Oakland were famously liberal, but most of the state — from San Diego County to Bakersfield to Glendale to Barstow to Santa Barbara — leaned GOP, and Orange County south of Los Angeles was a bastion of right-wing politics.

Not since President George H.W. Bush in 1988, however, has a Republican carried California in a presidential race. And even though former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the national popular vote to now-President Donald Trump by a narrow 1.5 percent in 2024, she won California by 20 percent.

Nonetheless, some parts of California still lean GOP, including Shasta County in the state's far north.

The Guardian's Dani Anguiano, in an article published on May 16, stresses that Trump remains popular there even though his policies will hurt working-class residents.

Anguiano reports, "Officials in Shasta County, a region of 180,000 perhaps best known in recent years for its turbulent far-right politics, recently voted unanimously to send a letter to the federal government expressing concern about how layoffs could affect the nearby Whiskeytown national recreation area, which brings as much as $80m to the local economy each year…. In March, about 150 people took to the streets in Redding, the Shasta County seat, to protest proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs."

The Guardian reporter continues, "A month later more than 1000 people in the area gathered to demonstrate against the (Trump) Administration’s policies. Amid reports about possible reductions to Medicaid, the head of the area’s largest healthcare provider warned such action could have 'crippling' impacts in a county where the local Medicaid provider serves nearly a third of the population."

But despite all that, Anguiano reports, "Trump’s agenda" has "remained strong among Republicans in California."

Bruce Ross, a Shasta County Republican, told The Guardian, "Everybody who lives up in Northeastern California knows folks who work for the Forest Service, or for federal agencies, and it's tough for them. I think on a human level, that's real….. There's been a lot of drama about it. But I think the actual results have shown that the administration is listening to people and saying, OK, this is important."

Read The Guardian's full article at this link.

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