Carl DeMaio used the word “fight” a lot.
The San Diego Republican Assembly member wants to help elect GOP candidates to “fight” for change, specifically the reforms he is pushing.
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He wants to turn the beleaguered California Republican Party, which he derides as docile and useless, into a “fighter” for those causes.
And to the surprise of absolutely no one, DeMaio is in another political fight, which has been pretty much his modus operandi since he burst on the San Diego political scene about a decade ago.
While he has plenty of harsh words for Gov. Gavin Newsom and the dominant Democratic Party for what he says is the state’s downward slide, he has been in a pitched battle with the state Republican Party and GOP leaders over endorsements, money and campaign materials.
Currently, an argument over competing slate mailers, usually a low-key campaign matter, has become a high-level dispute that underscores a power struggle between DeMaio and the California GOP establishment.
This comes after DeMaio essentially neutered the Republican Party of San Diego County by maneuvering to fill its ranks with allies and purging its leaders. As a consequence, the local party is not making endorsements for the first time in memory, which allows DeMaio’s Reform California voter guide to fill the local void.
“I’m sick and tired of not having an opposition party in California,” DeMaio, a former San Diego City Council member, said in an interview.
Without a stronger GOP, which means winning more legislative seats and ballot initiatives, he said there’s “no chance to turn California around.”
California Republicans have been in the political wilderness for a long time. Democrats hold every statewide office — the last Republican elected to one was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006 — and have supermajorities in the Assembly and state Senate, sidelining Republicans on decisions over the budget, taxes and other vital issues.
DeMaio talks big, for sure. But he arrived in Sacramento in 2024 perhaps unlike any other freshman, who often are initially relegated to the back bench. He had built an independent, statewide power base through his Reform California organization, an outgrowth of his previous Reform San Diego.
He has raised millions of dollars for his causes and candidates — and, critics contend, his organization. Conversely, DeMaio has attacked state Republican Party finances, maintaining too much is spent on overhead and consultants.
His own re-election is such a given he rarely talks about it.
DeMaio also continues what essentially was his radio talk show as an online streaming program tapped by thousands of viewers. As in San Diego, DeMaio has become a statewide media magnet.
When he announced his candidacy for the Assembly, he boasted that his mission was to shake up Sacramento — Democrats and Republicans alike — and get like-minded candidates elected.
“What we talked about in December 2023 is actually happening,” he said.
The real test will come in this election year, however. For the first time, DeMaio’s Reform California has endorsed candidates throughout the state. Initially, DeMaio focused on San Diego, then expanded to certain areas, including parts of the Central Valley and Riverside County.
He’s also qualified for the November ballot his Voter ID initiative, which would require photo verification and proof of citizenship to vote. DeMaio is also pushing with others the Save Proposition 13 Act, which seeks to reverse and close loopholes opened through court rulings that have chipped away at the landmark 1978 tax-limiting measure.
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Naturally, there are clashes, particularly over candidates in DeMaio’s backyard. Reform California has endorsed Republican San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones for county supervisor and former legislative candidate Kristie Bruce-Lane for a state Senate seat.
A group of prominent Republicans, led by Rep. Darrell Issa and Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones of Santee, are backing different candidates: Vista Mayor John Franklin for supervisor and San Marcos City Councilmember Ed Musgrove for state Senate.
The success or failure of these candidates to some extent could define the political prowess of their key backers. Further, both seats are held by termed-out Republicans — Supervisor Jim Desmond, now running for Congress, and Jones. Given the bitter rivalries, especially between Issa and DeMaio, a vicious blame game may well follow if Democrats win one or both seats.
An ugly dispute over competing slate mailers by the two factions has generated news stories across the state. Such pieces typically try to give voters the impression that they are from a political party, in this case the GOP, but stop just short of actually saying that. By law, they must include disclaimers. Both slate pieces did all of that.
But DeMaio’s apparently appropriated enough language and symbols of the California Republican Party imprimatur that a party attorney last week fired off a cease and desist letter, with the implied threat of legal action, saying the piece is “deceiving voters.”
On Tuesday, the party issued a message to members that the issue, according to a copy DeMaio produced. A spokesperson for the party did not respond to a request for comment.
Interestingly, when asked in the broad sense if his backed candidates needed to win to show success, DeMaio said “no.”
“We have more fighters in office and standing on principle,” he maintained.
Even without elections, he insisted his pressure in Sacramento has resulted in Republicans being “more united… they’re standing up on the floor and fighting.”
Nevertheless, politics can be unforgiving. It’s not just candidates, but people and organizations often are judged harshly if the individuals and initiatives they champion lose. Breaking through the Democrats’ two-thirds majorities in the Legislature would be one measure of success.
But then DeMaio lost three elections after his one council term — for mayor and twice for Congress. His past initiatives didn’t always make it to the ballot, and some that did either lost (the repeal of the gas tax in 2018) or passed and were overturned in court (doing away with public pensions in the city of San Diego).
Yet, at the moment, DeMaio may be more influential than ever. At the very least, he makes a lot of waves and people pay attention.
Issa’s continued effort to blunt that rise, while perhaps of marginal statewide interest, certainly has local intrigue.
Issa defeated DeMaio in a 2020 congressional primary. Four years later, Issa, Jones, other GOP leaders, and even prominent Democrats and some labor unions teamed up on an unsuccessful campaign to keep DeMaio from defeating a lesser-known Republican for an open Assembly seat.
Issa decided not to run for re-election this year after redistricting gave Democrats a slight registration edge in his deep red district. But he’s clearly not stepping away from politics entirely.
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By proxy, round three has begun.
