Conservative activist challenges GOP-endorsed candidate in California

Republican Carl DeMaio, a firebrand conservative activist, talk-radio host and former council member from San Diego, is launching an insurgent run for a seat in the California Legislature, promising to help revive a moribund state GOP with aggressive party-building.

“I’m frustrated and I think that if we don’t change things now it will get a lot worse, millions of more Californians will flee the state and it will be too late,” DeMaio said in an exclusive interview with POLITICO. “We’ve got to have fundamental change and it starts with confronting the Republican Party, what's left of it, and forcing them to change.”

DeMaio said he plans to run for the state Assembly seat being vacated by term-limited Republican Marie Waldron, who represents a largely rural district that includes portions of San Diego and the cities of Santee and Poway. DeMaio will face off in the March 5 primary against the state GOP’s preferred candidate: Andrew Hayes, district director to state Sen. Brian Jones and a member of the Lakeside school board. Jack Fernandes, a biotech startup founder and real estate broker is also in the field.

“I think the voters in this district know that I'm a fighter, and that while other Republicans will put their tail between their legs and cower or give up, I’m not going to go anywhere. I’m going to continue to fight till we take back the state.”

DeMaio cut a dynamic figure on the San Diego City Council, issuing a flurry of data analyses and reports on government spending and accountability. He later made several failed bids for mayor of San Diego and Congress, garnering attention as an openly gay GOP candidate.

He frequently sparred with public employee unions and dominated headlines with his 24-7 brand of in-your-face politics — earning a loyal following among conservatives but also irritating leaders from his own party for his unapologetic publicity seeking. DeMaio was seen as among the state’s biggest anti-union bogeymen by the likes of California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Lorena Gonzalez, at the time a labor head in San Diego.

“I’ve had to deal with Lorena for 20 years, so I think I know better than anyone her tricks and her demeanor and it doesn't faze me,” he said of his progressive nemesis. “I think labor has corrupted the process. Labor has been able to demand special interest favors that hurt Californians as a whole.

“The business community feels like they're just kind of held hostage up there,” he added. “And no one really puts up a fight. That's the role of a minority party is to try to provide that balance.”

DeMaio said he gets along well with others in labor, including fans of his show who serve in law enforcement. He now hosts a drive-time talk show on AM-600 KOGO out of San Diego and is chair of Reform California, one of the state’s biggest center-right organizations that targets voters.

He was customarily blunt in the interview previewing his run for the Legislature. He said both Democrats and Republicans were at fault for the state’s problems: “Democrats — I blame them for the bad ideas,” he said. “But I blame the Republicans because of their dysfunction and their inability to mount an effective fight to take back the state.”

Republicans in Sacramento are so far outnumbered that the party has struggled to build a bench, recruit competitive candidates and mount a sustained opposition message to counter dominant Democrats and their labor allies. DeMaio acknowledged the tension that comes from criticizing his own party, but he credited Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City as one of the best the caucus has had in decades.

“He needs to have a caucus that has energy and fight,” DeMaio said. “And I think that he's overwhelmed and he needs more people who can bring resources to the table.”

If elected, DeMaio said he would continue to do his work with Reform California and would broadcast on YouTube each afternoon from the state Capitol (he would not continue to broadcast on terrestrial radio, he said, but likely would keep streaming audio online). He talked about forming a new specialized caucus of Republicans at the Capitol.

He shared with POLITICO the results of a private poll conducted by GS Strategies he said helped convince him to make another run for office. It showed DeMaio with high name ID — 85 percent — and 49 percent favorability, on par with former President Donald Trump’s in the red district.

DeMaio’s committees in total have about $2 million. He expects that by next week he’ll have about $600,000 in cash on hand he can use for his Assembly race.

When he files for office on Wednesday, his Reform California committee will convert to a ballot measure committee that he could use only to promote and help defeat ballot measures, which he often does. His work to recruit and endorse candidates will be done through the newly formed state Assembly committee.

The goal of his insurgency, DeMaio said, is to win — and then quickly help the party compete.

“My calculation is I have to show benefit to them. I have to help them,” he said of his dynamic with fellow Republicans. “If the old guard wants to try to defend the death spiral that they're in, I don't think that’s going to be very palatable to voters and it certainly is not going to get us anywhere as a movement. I don’t worry too much about the naysayers.”