California Republicans have been called an endangered species in this “state of resistance” to the Trump administration, but they insist that their party will beat the odds in 2018 and take back the governor’s seat.
The conservative movement against California’s controversial “sanctuary state” law, a ballot measure to repeal Gov. Jerry Brown’s gas tax, and deepening concerns about rising housing costs and homelessness are fueling Republican hopes for a long-shot upset.
Harmeet Dhillon, a member of the Republican National Committee and a civil rights attorney, told a packed crowd of Republicans on Saturday that with the bill, California Democrats are attempting to unconstitutionally override federal jurisdiction and “force law enforcement into a more dangerous position that makes all of us a little less safe.”
“Californians are fed up,’’ said Dhillon, a former vice chair of the state GOP. “We’re beginning to see a backlash with sanctuary city issues,’’ said Dhillon. “There’s a secret Trump support out there. Democrats feel very smug when they look at the polls, but people say one thing to the pollsters and another to other voters.”
