In California, The Biggest State Democratic Party Is Adrift

Many in the party are tired of the status quo — but few are willing to say so publicly.

By Josh Koehn, The San Francisco Standard

Elected officials, political consultants, junior legislative staffers, and union reps converged on Anaheim this weekend, fired up for the California Democratic Party convention. Over the course of three days, they drank, they ate, they went to Disneyland, and they promised over and over to fight.

Whom are they fighting? President Donald Trump and Republicans. Where? Everywhere. How? No one seems to know.

Figuring out what Democrats plan to do to win back voters felt like a sucker’s bet from the beginning. Conventions aren’t the place for new ideas and strategies; they’re an orgiastic celebration of the status quo. But considering Trump’s rapid dismantling of the federal government and attacks on civil liberties, the repetitive chants of “When we fight, we win” felt as comforting as being stuck on a boat in “It’s a Small World.”

Of the dozens of elected officials and political insiders I spoke with, most admitted that this year’s convention was alarmingly mired in the same themes and mantras that doomed Democrats in 2024. A resolution proposing an age limit on elected officials was strangely “postponed” before the convention started, and no significant challengers tried to dethrone Rusty Hicks, the state party’s chair since 2019.

Perhaps most notable about this year’s convention was the glaring absence of Gov. Gavin Newsom and potential successor Kamala Harris — California’s two most prominent Democratic leaders now that Nancy Pelosi is in the twilight of her congressional career. Many deduced that the no-shows were a calculated strategy.

Harris likely didn’t want to be badgered about the ongoing saga of Joe Biden’s health and her career plans. Most people in attendance expressed support for Harris’ expected run for governor — at least when they were on the record; off the record, not so much. Many within the party are tired of reshuffling the deck with the same old candidates, but few are willing to say as much publicly.