While Gov. Gavin Newsom floats dreams of a future presidential campaign, California is drowning — and he’s holding the hose.
From rising crime to record homelessness, from rolling blackouts to businesses fleeing our state in droves, California is unraveling.
Yet instead of staying home and leading, Newsom is staging media tours in red states, basking in the spotlight, and auditioning for a job he hasn’t earned.
Where is the concern from his Democratic Legislature?
Nowhere.
Not a word.
As usual, supermajority Assembly members remain strategically silent while the governor orchestrates the downfall of our state.
Their silence is complicity.
While Newsom builds his national profile, the people who are supposed to represent us refuse to confront the destruction being caused by their party’s policies.
Meanwhile, Republican legislators are doing what they can with limited numbers — introducing bills, holding press conferences, and warning the public of the long-term consequences of progressive overreach.
But without balance in Sacramento, these warnings often fall on deaf ears.
Let’s be clear: California is not suffering from a lack of resources.
We are suffering from a lack of leadership.
We spend more per capita than almost any state in the nation. We have the fifth-largest economy in the world. We have natural beauty, global influence and a proud history of innovation and freedom.
But under the current regime, we are squandering all of it.
Just look at what’s happening on the streets. Homeless encampments have become permanent fixtures in our cities.
Property crime has become so normalized that entire industries are adapting to theft.
In places like San Francisco, Walgreens and Target are locking up toothpaste — and in some cases, closing entirely.
Public school enrollment is plummeting. Working families are moving out. Small businesses can’t afford to stay open.
And state-funded programs are increasingly serving non-citizens while many California-born citizens can’t even afford rent.
How did we get here?
Through years of unchecked progressive policy, championed by Newsom and rubber-stamped by his allies in the Legislature.
Zero-bail policies, sanctuary state laws, restrictions on law enforcement, and runaway spending have left us with crumbling infrastructure, demoralized police departments and exploding debt.
The numbers don’t lie. California has a nearly $50 billion budget deficit.
We’ve lost more residents in the past few years than any other state. And the people left behind are paying the price — literally.
While you tighten your belt to cover inflated utility bills and gas prices, Gavin Newsom enjoys state-funded security details, taxpayer-funded travel, and a platform built on the backs of working Californians.
We are paying for his lifestyle while he prepares for a promotion.
This is not leadership.
This is abandonment.
Santa Clarita has always been a community that believes in responsibility, hard work and safety. But even we are not immune. Our local law enforcement is feeling the strain.
Our City Council is facing pressure. And our representatives in Sacramento are nowhere to be found when it comes to defending our values.
We must demand better. We must raise our voices before it’s too late.
Leadership must change — not in five years, not in the next decade, but now! Californians must come first.
That means securing our neighborhoods. It means putting taxpayers before lobbyists. It means restoring accountability, funding law enforcement, and getting serious about mental health and addiction instead of throwing billions at non-solutions.
It also means holding every politician accountable who stands by silently while this state suffers. If your representative is more concerned with party loyalty than with protecting your family’s future, it’s time to find a new one.
Republicans across the state are stepping up with bold ideas, fiscal sanity and a vision to rebuild. But we need voters to meet us halfway.
That starts with registering voters, turning out for elections, and fighting back against the media machine that tells us California’s collapse is “just a phase.”
It’s not. It’s a warning.
We can still turn this ship around — but not with the same people who steered us into the iceberg.
So let Newsom chase cameras. Let him tour other states pretending to be the savior of democracy. We’ll be right here, doing the real work: protecting California from its own government.
Because this is our home. And we’re not giving it up without a fight.
Patrick Lee Gipson is a Santa Clarita resident and former deputy sheriff. “Right Here, Right Now” appears Saturdays and rotates among local Republicans.
