The California Republican Party (CAGOP) is the affiliate of the

United States Republican Party The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a Right-wing politics, right-wing political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. One of the Two-party system, two major parties, it emerged as t ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The party is based in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

and is led by chair Corrin Rankin. As of October 2023, Republicans represent approximately 23.9% of the state's registered voters, placing the party far behind the

California Democratic Party The California Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in Sacramento, the state capital. With 46.59% of the state's registered voters as of February 2024, the Democratic ...

which has 46.8% of registered voters. The party is a super minority in the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, holding less than 1/3 (33.3%) of the seats in both chambers of the legislature: 19 seats out of 80 in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

(23.75%), and 9 seats out of 40 in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

(23%). The party holds none of the eight statewide executive branch offices, 9 of the state's 52 seats in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

delegation (17%), and neither of California's seats in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

History

The Republican Party was born in 1854 as a primary vehicle to oppose the expansion of slavery in the United States. In 1856, Republicans nominated

John C. Frémont Major general (United States), Major-General John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first History of the Repub ...

, one of California's inaugural senators, for the 1856 presidential election, but he lost the state by a wide margin to Democrat and eventual winner

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

, though he did win the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Later in 1860,

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

was elected to the presidency as the first Republican president. The Republican Party would emerge as primary opposition to the Democratic Party until the present day. California Republicans and Democrats were competitive throughout the late 19th century. In 1878, Republican California Senator

Aaron A. Sargent Aaron Augustus Sargent (September 28, 1827 – August 14, 1887) was an American journalist, lawyer, politician and diplomat. In 1878, Sargent historically introduced what would later become the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giv ...

introduced the language that would become the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which would allow women the right to vote. Republicans dominated state politics for most of the 20th century (they controlled the state senate from 1891 to 1958) until the 1960s when the Democrats once again became competitive with the rightward shift of the Republican Party, exemplified by their nomination of

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

(Goldwater lost California in a landslide). Republicans still saw ample success up until the 1990s.

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

carried the state in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

after

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

twice carried the state in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Wilson previously served as a United S ...

was elected Senator in

, and John Seymour was the last Republican Senator from California after being appointed to the seat in 1991. California's Latino and Asian populations grew significantly in the 1990s and the growing segment of voters were turned off by the Republican Party's hard-line stance on immigration (the Party closely tied itself to

Proposition 187 California Proposition 187 (also known as the ''Save Our State'' (SOS) initiative) was a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit illegal immigrants from using non-emergency health care, public ed ...

). Democrats have won most elections at the state, local, and federal levels since the 2000s by comfortable margins. For example, despite failing to win the presidency, Hillary Clinton won a higher percentage of votes than any candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Still, California elected

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

twice for governor. Schwarzenegger and

Steve Poizner Stephen Leo Poizner (born January 4, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the Insurance Commissioner of the state of California from 2007 to 2011. Formerly a Republican, Poizner ran unsuccessfully as an independent cand ...

, who later became an independent, are the last Republicans to win statewide elections in California. California has two Republican presidents in U.S. history:

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

, who was a U.S. representative and senator from California, and

, who was a governor of California (1967–1975).

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

also studied in California and lived there for a number of years. Other notable California Republicans include former Governor and Chief Justice

Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 30th governor of California from 1943 to 1953 and as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presid ...

, former Governor and Senator

Hiram Johnson Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866August 6, 1945) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 23rd governor of California from 1911 to 1917 and represented California in the U.S. Senate for five terms from 1917 to 1945. Johns ...

, and former Senator and founder of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of Calif ...

. In 2018, the California Republican Party had fewer registered voters than voters registered with a

no party preference An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have polit ...

option, but that trend reversed in 2020."Republicans slip to 3rd place, behind independents, as registration choice of Californians"
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', June 1, 2018 The California Republican Party is known for its culture-war style politics; the state party platform advocates for a near-total ban on abortion access, banning

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, and privatizing education.

Elected officials

The following is a list of Republican statewide, federal, and legislative officeholders:

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

*None Both of California's

seats have been held by Democrats since

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. John F. Seymour is the last Republican to have represented California in the U.S. Senate. Appointed in 1991 by

who resigned his Class I Senate seat because he was elected governor in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, Seymour lost the 1992 special election to Democratic challenger

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel Feinstein (; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 38th ...

for the remainder of the term expiring in 1995. Feinstein held the seat until her death in 2023. Pete Wilson is the last Republican to have won an election to represent California in the U.S. Senate, when he won in

. He is also the last Republican to represent California for a

full term Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception usually occurs following vaginal intercourse, but can also ...

in the U.S. Senate from 1983 to 1989. With the passage of Prop 14 in 2010 setting up a

jungle primary A nonpartisan primary, top-two primary, or jungle primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of political party. This distinguishes them from partisan primaries, w ...

system in California, there was a period of 10 years (2012–2022) in which no Republican made the general election for the US Senate, as Republicans were locked out from the general elections in both the 2016 election and the 2018 election.

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 52 seats California is apportioned in the

, 9 are held by Republicans: *

CA-01 California's 1st congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in California. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican, has represented the district since January 2013. Currently, it encompasses the northeastern part of the state. Since the 2022 e ...

Doug LaMalfa Douglas Lee LaMalfa ( ; born July 2, 1960) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for California's 1st congressional district since 2013. A member of the California Republican Party, ...

CA-03 California's 3rd congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in California. It includes the northern Sierra Nevada and northeastern suburbs of Sacramento, stretching south to Death Valley. It encompasses Alpine, Inyo, Mono, Nevad ...

: Kevin Kiley * CA-05:

Tom McClintock Thomas Miller McClintock II (born July 10, 1956) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2009 (known as the 4th congressional district until 2023). His district stretches from the Sacramento suburbs to the out ...

* CA-20:

Vince Fong Vincent Karchi Fong (born October 24, 1979) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for California's 20th congressional district since 2024. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previo ...

* CA-22:

David Valadao David Goncalves Valadao ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American politician and dairy farmer serving as the U.S. representative for California's 22nd congressional district since 2023. His district comprises part of the San Joaquin Valley. A m ...

* CA-23:

Jay Obernolte Jay Phillip Obernolte ( ; born August 18, 1970) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for since 2021, when it was numbered as the 8th district. A Republican, he was previously a member of the California St ...

CA-40 California's 40th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California, encompassing Orange County, California, Orange, San Bernardino County, San Bernardino, and Riverside County, Riverside counties. The district i ...

Young Kim Young Oak Kim (, born October 18, 1962) is a South Korean-born American politician and businesswoman serving as the U.S. representative for California's 40th congressional district, previously representing the 39th congressional district fr ...

* CA-41:

Ken Calvert Kenneth Stanton Calvert (born June 8, 1953) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , and previously the 44th, 42nd, and 43rd, serving since 1993 as a member of the Republican Party. The district is par ...

* CA-48:

Darrell Issa Darrell Edward Issa ( ; born November 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 48th congressional district. He represented the 50th congressional district from 2021 to 2023. A memb ...

Statewide offices

*None California has not had a Republican in a state-wide elected office since January 2011. Republicans were last elected to a statewide office in 2006, when

was re-elected as governor and

was elected as insurance commissioner. In 2010,

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

s prevented Schwarzenegger from seeking a third term while Poizner chose not to seek re-election as California insurance commissioner, instead making an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for new governor. In 2018, Poizner attempted to run again for his old seat of insurance commissioner, but did so without the affiliation to the Republican Party. The last Republican to serve as

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Abel Maldonado Abel O. Maldonado Jr. (born August 21, 1967) is an American politician who served as the 48th lieutenant governor of California from April 27, 2010 to January 3, 2011. As of 2025, he is the last Republican to serve as California's Lieutenant Gove ...

, who was appointed in 2010 by Schwarzenegger to fill the vacancy when

John Garamendi John Raymond Garamendi ( ; born January 24, 1945) is an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party who has represented areas of Northern California between San Francisco and Sacramento, including the cities of Fairfiel ...

resigned to take a seat in Congress. Maldonado lost his election in 2010 for a full term, and left office in January 2011. The last Republican elected to the position is

Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American politician, record executive, and philanthropist who served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California, lieutenant governor of California from 1979 to 1983. He is the founder of Curb Recor ...

, who was elected in 1978 and served until January 1983. The last Republican to serve as

Attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Dan Lungren Daniel Edward Lungren (born September 22, 1946) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and former politician. A native of Long Beach, California, his career as an elected official began when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives ...

who was elected in 1990, reelected in 1994, and served until January 1999. The last Republican to serve as Secretary of State is

Bruce McPherson Bruce A. McPherson (born January 7, 1944) is an American politician who served as the 30th California secretary of state from March 30, 2005, to January 7, 2007. He is currently a member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. As of 2024 ...

, who was appointed to the position in 2005 when the previous Secretary of State,

Kevin Shelley Kevin Francis Shelley (born November 16, 1955) is an American politician, who was the 26th California Secretary of State from January 6, 2003, until his resignation on March 4, 2005. Early life Shelley was raised in San Francisco, the only son ...

, resigned. McPherson lost the election for a full term in 2006 and left office in January 2007. The last Republican elected to the position is Bill Jones who was elected in 1994, reelected in 1998 and served until January 2003. The last Republican to serve as

State treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

Matt Fong Matthew Kipling Fong (November 20, 1953 – June 1, 2011) was an American Republican politician who served as the 30th California State Treasurer. He was a government appointee, finance industry director, and consultant after retiring from the ...

, who was elected in 1994 and served until January 1999. Fong chose not to run for re-election to a second term in office in 1998, choosing instead to run unsuccessfully for the US Senate seat. The last Republican to serve as

State controller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

is Houston I. Flournoy, who was elected in 1966, reelected in 1970, and served until January 1975. The last Republican to serve as the

Superintendent of Public Instruction A state education agency or state department of education is the state-level government organization within each U.S. state or U.S. territory, territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistan ...

(which is officially a non-partisan position) is

Max Rafferty Maxwell Lewis Rafferty Jr. (May 7, 1917 – June 13, 1982) was an American writer, educator, and politician. The author of several best-selling books about education, Rafferty served two terms as California State Superintendent of Public Instru ...

, who was elected in 1962, reelected in 1966, and served until January 1971.

Board of Equalization, State Senate and Assembly

Board of Equalization

Republicans hold one of the four non-

ex-officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ''List of Latin phrases (E)#ex officio, ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the off ...

seats on the

State Board of Equalization The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) is a public agency charged with tax administration and fee collection in the state of California in the United States. The authorities of the Board attempt to ensure that counties fairly assess ...

: *1st District:

Ted Gaines Edward Moore Gaines (born April 25, 1958) is an American politician and businessman serving as a member of the California Board of Equalization for the 1st district. He previously served as a California State Senator, representing the 1st Senate ...

State Senate

Republicans are in the minority, holding ten of the 40 seats in the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

. Republicans have been the minority party in the Senate since

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. * SD-1:

Megan Dahle Megan Elizabeth Dahle ( Ray; born July 29, 1975) is an American politician serving as a member of the California State Senate since 2024. A Republican, she represents the 1st State Senate district, which encompasses all of Butte, Colusa, Gle ...

* SD-4: Marie Alvarado-Gil * SD-8:

Roger Niello Roger Niello (born 2 June 1948) is an American politician who is currently in the California State Senate representing the 6th district, which includes portions of Sacramento and Placer counties. He is a Republican who also served in the Califo ...

* SD-12:

Shannon Grove Shannon Lee Grove (née Cain; born March 18, 1965) is an American politician, who represents California's 12th State Senatorial district, encompassing the southern Central Valley and parts of the High Desert. A Republican, she served as the mi ...

* SD-19: Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh * SD-23:

Suzette Martinez Valladares Suzette Martinez Valladares (born December 21, 1980) is an American politician who is a member of the California State Senate since 2024, representing the 23rd district. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as a member of the ...

* SD-32: Kelly Seyarto * SD-36:

Tony Strickland Anthony A. Strickland (born February 17, 1970) is an American politician who is a California State Senate, California state senator representing the California's 36th senatorial district, 36th district since 2025. A member of the Republican Party ...

* SD-37: Steven Choi * SD-40:

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

(''Minority Leader'')

State Assembly

Republicans hold 19 of the 80 seats in the

State Assembly State Assembly is the name given to various legislatures, especially lower houses or full legislatures in states in federal systems of government. Channel Islands States Assembly is the name of the legislature of the Bailiwick of Jersey. The Baili ...

. The last time the Republicans were the majority party in the Assembly was during the 1994–1996 session. * AD-1:

Heather Hadwick Heather Hadwick is an American pumpkin farmer and politician who is a member of the California State Assembly for the 1st District. A Republican, she represents most of the Shasta Cascade. Career Heather attended Shasta College and CSU Chico, ea ...

* AD-3: James Gallagher (''Minority Leader'') * AD-5: Joe Patterson * AD-7: Josh Hoover * AD-8:

David Tangipa David Jariustokaeutulelei Tangipa (born December 9, 1995) is an American businessman, former college football player, and politician who is a member of the California State Assembly from the 8th district. Tangipa is believed to be the first Tong ...

* AD-9: Heath Flora * AD-22: Juan Alanis * AD-32:

Stan Ellis Stanley William Ellis is an American businessman and politician serving as a member of the California State Assembly for the 32nd district since 2025. A Republican, he won a special election to succeed Vince Fong. Early life and education Elli ...

* AD-33:

Alexandra Macedo Alexandra Macedo (born 1994/1995) is an American attorney and politician who is a member of the California State Assembly for the 33rd district, a largely rural district based in the San Joaquin Valley. Early life and education Macedo was born a ...

* AD-34: Tom Lackey * AD-36:

Jeff Gonzalez Jeff Gonzalez is an American veteran, businessman, and politician who is a member of the California State Assembly from the 36th District. A Republican, he flipped the majority Latino district in 2024 which includes eastern Riverside County an ...

* AD-47: Greg Wallis * AD-58:

Leticia Castillo Leticia Castillo (born April 27, 1971) is an American psychotherapist and politician serving as a member of the California State Assembly. She is a Republican representing the 58th district, encompassing parts of Riverside County and San Bernar ...

* AD-59: Phillip Chen * AD-70: Tri Ta * AD-71: Kate Sanchez * AD-72:

Diane Dixon Diane Lynn Dixon (born September 23, 1964) is an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. She was born in Brooklyn, New York. She has an Olympic gold medal for running with the American 4 × 400 meters relay team at the 1984 Olymp ...

* AD-74: Laurie Davies * AD-75:

Carl DeMaio Carl David DeMaio (born September 14, 1974) is an American politician from San Diego, California who is serving in the California State Assemblymember. A member of the Republican (United States), Republican Party, DeMaio represents the California ...

Mayoral offices

Of California's ten largest cities, two have Republican mayors as of July 2022: *

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

(5):

Jerry Dyer Jerry P. Dyer (born May 3, 1959) is an American politician and former law enforcement officer. He is the 26th and current mayor of Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the c ...

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

(9):

Karen Goh Karen K. Goh (born 1955) is an American politician and non-profit organization executive serving as the 26th and current mayor of Bakersfield, California. Before becoming mayor of Bakersfield, Goh was a non-profit executive at Garden Pathways. Go ...

Other notable mayors include: * Glendale (24): Ara Najarian

Rules for presidential primary elections

How delegates are awarded

As of the

2024 Republican National Convention The 2024 Republican National Convention was an event in which delegates of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party selected the party's nominees for President of the United States, president and Vice President of ...

, the California Republican Party gets to send 169 delegates to the quadannual

Presidential nominating convention A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purp ...

, the most of any state party. From the 2004 presidential primary until the 2020 presidential primary, the California Republican Party awarded three delegates to the winner of the primary within each one of the state's congressional districts, with the balance (about a dozen delegates) awarded proportionally based on the statewide result. Ahead of the 2024 National Convention, the state party changed its rules for awarding delegates in order to comply with the rules of the

national party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

(failure to do so would have resulted in a cut of 50% to the number of delegates the state party gets to send to the national convention). Under the new system, delegates are awarded based on the statewide results, rather than results within the individual districts. At the urging of the Donald Trump presidential campaign, the rules were also changed that if a candidate receives more than 50% of the primary votes, the candidate gets 100% of the state's 169 allotted delegates. If no candidate gets 50% of the primary vote, then delegates are awarded proportionally.

Participation of "independent" voters

Since January 2001, California has had a "modified" closed primary system in which political parties can determine whether or not to allow voters who are not affiliated with any party (i.e. "independent") to participate in the party's primary. The passage of Proposition 14 limited this "modified" closed primary system to primaries for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

, starting with the 2012 primaries. Since the adoption of the "modified" closed primary system, the California Republican Party has allowed "independent" voters to vote in Republican primaries only in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 (for 2008, the allowance applied to all primaries except for the presidential primary).

Governance

The California Republican Party is a "political party that has detailed statutory provisions applicable to its operation", which are in division 7, part 3 of the California Elections Code.''Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee'' (1989)
489 U.S. 214
. "The State of California heavily regulates its political parties. … The California Elections Code (Code) provides that the 'official governing bodies' for such a party are its 'state convention,' 'state central committee,' and 'county central committees,' …" The Republican State Central Committee (RSCC), the governing body of the California Republican Party, functions pursuant to its standing rules and bylaws.Standing Rules and Bylaws of the California Republican Party
, As Amended 6 October 2013.Bylaws § 1.03 The RSCC works together with the Republican county central committees and district central committees, with county central committees appointing delegates to the RSCC.Bylaws § 2.01.01(B) The regular officers of the RSCC are the chairman, state vice chairman, eight regional vice chairmen, secretary, and treasurer.

County central committees

There are semi-autonomous county central committees for each of California's 58 counties. At every direct primary election (presidential primary) or when district boundaries are redrawn, their members are either elected by supervisor district or Assembly district depending on the county. California Elections Code division 7, part 3, chapter 4, article 1, §§ 7400 ''et seq.''

Party chairs

* Gustave Brenner (1912–14) * Francis V. Keesling (1914–16) *

Chester H. Rowell Chester Harvey Rowell (November 1, 1867April 12, 1948) was an early leader of the progressive movement in California. Biography Born in Bloomington, Illinois, he earned a degree from the University of Michigan in 1888. His father was Jonathan H. ...

(1916–18) * Raymond Benjamin (1918–22) * Albert E. Boynton (1922–1924) * Charles L. Neumiller (1924–28) * Frank F. Merriam (1928–30) * Marshal Hale (1930–34) *

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1884Mayer maintained that he was born in Minsk on July 4, 1885. According to Scott Eyman, the reasons may have been: * Mayer's father gave different dates for his birthplace at different times, so ...

(1932–33) *

(1934–36) * Justus Craemer (1936–38) * Bradford Melvin (1938–40) *

Thomas Kuchel Thomas Henry Kuchel ( ; August 15, 1910 – November 21, 1994) was an American politician. A moderate Republican, he served as a US Senator from California from 1953 to 1969 and was the minority whip in the Senate, where he was the co-mana ...

(1940–42) * Edward Tickle (1942–44) * Leo Anderson (1944–46) * Arthur W. Carlson (1946–48) * Sim Delapp (1948–50) * Laughlin Waters (1950–54) * Thomas W. Caldecott (1954–56) * Alphonzo E. Bell, Jr. (1956–58) * George W. Milias (1958–60) * John Krehbiel (1960–62) *

Caspar Weinberger Caspar Willard Weinberger (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006) was an American politician and businessman. As a Republican, he served in a variety of state and federal positions for three decades, most notably as Secretary of Defense under ...

(1962–64) * Gaylord Parkinson (1964–67) * James Halley (1967–69) *

Dennis Carpenter Dennis Eugene Carpenter (September 3, 1928 – December 23, 2003) was an American politician, Republican member of the California State Senate from 1970 until 1978 and attorney at law. Carpenter was a Federal Bureau of Investigation special a ...

(1969–71) * Putnam Livermore (1971–73) *

Gordon Luce Gordon Hannington Luce (20 January 1889 – 3 May 1979) was a colonial scholar in Burma. His outstanding library containing books, manuscripts, maps and photographs – The Luce Collection – was acquired by the National Library of Australia ...

(1973–75) * Paul Haerle (1975–77) * Michael B. Montgomery (1977–79) * Truman Campbell (1979–81) *

Tirso del Junco Tirso Del Junco (April 20, 1925 – September 4, 2023) was an American politician who served as chair of the Republican Party of California, and the head of the University of California board of regents. He was also an Olympic coxswain and a me ...

(1981–83) *

Ed Reinecke Howard Edwin "Ed" Reinecke (January 7, 1924 – December 24, 2016) was an American politician from California. He served three terms in the United States House of Representatives. He was the 39th lieutenant governor of California from 1969 unt ...

(1983–85) * Mike Antonovich (1985–87) * Bob Naylor (1987–89) * Frank Visco (1989–91) * Jim Dignan (1991–93) *

(1993–95) *

John Herrington John Bennett Herrington (Chickasaw Nation, born September 14, 1958) is a retired United States Naval Aviator, engineer and former NASA astronaut. In 2002, Herrington became the first enrolled citizen of a Native American tribe to fly in space. ...

(1995–97) * Michael J. Schroeder (1997–99) * John McGraw (1999–2001) * Shawn Steel (2001–03) * George "Duf" Sundheim (2003–07) * Ron Nehring (2007–11) * Tom Del Beccaro (2011–13) *

Jim Brulte James L. Brulte (born April 13, 1956) is an American politician, former state legislator, and former chairman of the California Republican Party, having served from March 3, 2013 to February 24, 2019. Serving three consecutive terms as chairma ...

(2013–19) * Jessica Millan Patterson (2019-2025) * Corrin Rankin (since 2025)

Election results

Presidential

Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981

Gubernatorial

Notes

References

External links

*
California State Senate Republican Caucus

California State Assembly Republican Caucus

California College Republicans
{{CaliforniaPoliticalParties California Republicans Republican Party (United States) by state Republican Party