Newsom Leads Effort to “Trump-Proof” State, Opponents Urge Focus on Wildfire Recovery

“Assembly Democrats should stop protecting their boss’s presidential ambitions and start protecting Californians from wildfire, crime and inflation,” argues Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher. 

California has recently endured some of the most devastating wildfires in its history, leaving entire communities across southern California—primarily in Los Angeles County—in ruins. Amid this crisis, President Donald Trump has offered federal relief, but that aid is contingent on California agreeing to undertake election reform.

This is, of course, a contentious issue in the Golden State. State Assemblymembers Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) and Bill Essayli (R-Corona) have already been leading the charge to bolster election integrity—hence the introduction of their Assembly Bill 25 which would “[require] a government-issued ID to vote, [verify] the citizenship of voters, [maintain] accurate voter lists, incentivize] timely counting of ballots, and [enhance] the signature review process.”

Governor Newsom, on the other hand, is focused on efforts to ‘Trump-proof’ the state. Recently, California Democrats reached a first-of-its-kind agreement to fund efforts to contend with the new administration. Half of the $50 million deal would go towards legal defense in anticipation of feuds with President Trump over immigration.

“This funding agreement cements California’s readiness to serve as a bulwark against Trump’s extremist agenda,” said Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco).

California Republicans are, in turn, criticizing the Democrats’ decision to reject any collaboration with their opponents on election reform or wildfire relief and, instead, prioritize fighting with the federal government.

“At a time when California should be laser focused on responding to the devastating wildfires in LA, Democrat lawmakers’ priority is creating a $50 million slush fund to hire government lawyers for hypothetical fights against the federal government and to defend criminal illegal immigrants from being returned to their home countries,” said Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City).

Despite being seriously outnumbered, Republicans were able to block the vote on the $50 million deal when it came before the Assembly yesterday. Gallagher touts this development as a major success.

“Shutting down today’s vote is a big victory for Republicans, but Assembly Democrats need to end this farce of a special session for good. The only thing being advanced by this stunt is Gavin Newsom’s political career,” Gallagher said. “Assembly Democrats should stop protecting their boss’s presidential ambitions and start protecting Californians from wildfire, crime and inflation.” 

However, to say that Republican-sponsored AB-25 faces an uphill battle is an understatement. Sacramento’s legislative supermajority has never taken kindly to voter ID laws at either the state or local level. Last year, Huntington Beach was quickly sued by  California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber when its constituents voted to approve Measure A and require government-issued identification in order to participate in municipal elections.

That resistance stands in stark contrast to other states like Wisconsin, Texas, Arizona, and Florida, which have implemented stricter voter identification laws in recent years. While other states such as these continue to implement common-sense election safeguards, California has, for years, remained a standout in its refusal to consider voter ID laws.

“There is a cancer growing in our democracy where too many California voters do not trust in our elections. California voters will not have the confidence they deserve that we have fraud-free elections—until we enact this common sense voter ID law,” said DeMaio.

Some now argue that by focusing on opposing Trump’s administration instead of engaging in meaningful reforms, California Democrats are missing an opportunity to unite, unlock the promised federal aid, and move the state forward. 

“[DeMaio and Essayli’s] proposal fixes the problems and should be enacted on a bipartisan basis given the importance of restoring election integrity to ensure the health of our democracy,” writes Katy Grimes, Editor in Chief of the California Globe.