‘You don’t get red-pilled overnight’: California’s political players explain what happened in 2024

California experienced a muted version of the rightward lurch that swept the country, with Republicans making some inroads by focusing on crime and the state’s high cost of living.

The rightward drift among Latino voters is a nationwide phenomenon, but it has particular symbolic weight in California , where the backlash to Proposition 187 moved Latinos decisively toward Democrats .

A poll commissioned by a Republican political consultant and expert in the Latino vote gives clues why.

Imperial County shifted nearly 13 points to the right in November .

The once-reliably blue county, which is 86 percent Latino, shifted 13 points.

But the Democratic Party chair cautioned against reading too much into one county’s red swing.

“The truth is, there wasn't the same kind of engagement in Imperial County that there was in other counties in the Central Valley , in Orange County and elsewhere,’’.

Planned Parenthood California spent $3.5 million on “connecting the dots’s dots,” group president Jodi Hicks said.

Abortion was the top issue in three of the biggest House wins for Democrats .

Abortion rights was particularly motivating for certain non-Democrats who ended up backing the Democratic contender.