State GOP leader’s success strategy: Never say ‘Trump’

SACRAMENTO >> If the leader of the California Republican Party had her way, GOP candidates in this state would never mention President Trump’s name.

Not that Jessica Millan Patterson is trashing Trump — it’s hard to imagine a state Republican leader bad-mouthing a GOP president — but she knows polls consistently show that in most of California, Trump’s name is dirt.

A recent poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that among likely voters, 94% of Democrats and 57% of independents disapprove of Trump’s job performance. It was approved by 84% of Republicans, but they’re increasingly scarce in California.

For Republican candidates running in competitive districts against Democrats, embracing the unpopular president would be a vote-killer.

Patterson, California Republican Party chair, says legislative candidates should campaign only on state and local issues and avoid all subjects presidential.

“Our focus in California is on keeping it local,” Patterson told me. “We’re going to be talking about things happening here and affecting voters’ lives — focused on what’s happening in Sacramento. Democrats have given us a lot to work with.”

She also says Republican politicians should show up more.

“Democrats show up,” Patterson says. “Many voters don’t think Republicans care about their problems.”

She doesn’t mean showing up just at campaign fundraisers but at meetings in halls and local hangouts to listen to voters’ problems — “engaging every single community.”

Patterson recently came to my office to talk about how she’s trying to rebuild the crumbled California Republican Party one year after being elected its chair at a state convention. She’s articulate, energetic and savvy. Delegates chose her over a firebrand conservative. Patterson ran as a pragmatist.

Sacramento consultant and former adviser to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Cassandra Pye, who is black, told the Los Angeles Times at the convention:

“We’ve been a party that’s essentially got a face that is primarily white and male and old. It’s time we turn the party over to another generation and to some folks that look more like the rest of California.”

Patterson’s election was a significant step in that direction. She’s the first Latino and first woman to be elected head of the California Republican Party.

Patterson, 39, grew up in Montebello. Her parents were both Democrats. Her father was of Mexican descent, her mother Irish and Ukrainian. She went to Cal State Northridge, majoring in political science. After college, she immediately began working in politics. She lives in Simi Valley with her husband and kids.

Patterson is anti-abortion, but not a “pro-life” activist. In California, where voters are strongly pro-choice, Republican candidates wisely stopped focusing on the issue several years ago.

Californians haven’t elected a Republican to statewide office since 2006. It’s strictly one-party rule in Sacramento. Democrats hold supermajorities in both legislative houses.

And Democrats dominate the California delegation to the U.S. House by 46 to 7. Republicans lost half their seats in 2018.

“Coming out of November 2018, we were in incredibly dark times,” Patterson says. “But that darkness has been filled with some hope, some excitement and just the right amount of people being pissed off — about everything from homelessness to just being able to afford staying in California.”

Patterson says the party raised $1 million online last year, a 1,000% increase. There’s been a 33% increase in major donors.

But Republican voter registration has fallen to 23.7% of the electorate, far behind Democrats, who are at 44.6%. The GOP even trails “no party preference” independents, 25.9%.

Democrats could be a huge help to California Republicans by dumping Trump in November.