California Is Still America’s Most Republican State

Since 1850, GOP Politicians Have Shaped What Has Become a Democratic Stronghold 

Did Leonardo da Vinci spray graffiti all over the Mona Lisa? Did Alfred Hitchcock destroy the original print of Vertigo?

Of course not. So why are Republicans waging war against California, their party’s greatest masterpiece?

For all the raging rhetoric against our state as a failing Democratic bastion, the larger, historical truth is exactly the opposite: Modern California is, in almost all respects, the creation of Republicans. Even in the 21st century, when Democrats hold almost every significant elected office, the structures of this place remain fundamentally Republican.

The state of California and …