As California Burns, Is It Also Awakening to Disastrous Democrat Policies?

California’s calamitous wildfires could threaten Democrats’ political monopoly there. The tragedy unfolding in California should have a national impact on the environmental policies that have helped produce it. It could also have political repercussions that reverberate well beyond the state.

It is neither vindictiveness nor political opportunism to say that in the aftermath of California’s wildfires, there should be an accounting. A disaster of this magnitude demands it. As of the morning of Jan. 15, at least 24 are dead, over 12,000 buildings are gone, 40,000 acres burned, and the cost already estimated at up to $250 billion — all numbers sadly sure to climb as the barely-contained fires continue to rage.

An accounting is especially necessary with so many human errors already visible. California’s Governor Newsom and Los Angeles’s Mayor Bass are thoroughly overmatched by this moment. State environmental policies have slowed forest restoration (mechanical thinning and controlled burning) that reduce dangerous fuel for fires. There have been reports of a lack of water for firefighting and earlier warnings that budget cuts would hurt emergency firefighting.

All policymakers’ decisions appear to have moved away from the functional imperatives that Los Angeles is now facing in real-time. That all those policymakers are Democrats is undoubtedly something that will not be lost on voters either.

In politics, major events can realign electorates. They did so dramatically and for decades during the Depression. They did so just recently in November’s presidential election.

In contrast to the Depression, Democrats lost the White House after just one term, despite favorable statistics for the macroeconomy. Instead, they lost it on a host of issues — inflation, illegal immigration, crime, a cascading of DEI initiatives, radical environmentalism, and a feckless foreign policy — that combined to drive voters against, first Biden, and then Harris. As America awaits the second inauguration of Donald Trump, just 28 percent believe it is headed in the right direction; over twice as many (62 percent) believe it is on the wrong track.

The counterargument is that 2024’s outcome was not a landslide and was limited to only states that were already politically evenly balanced.

Yes, Trump swept all seven so-called swing states in November, something neither winner did in 2020 or 2016. However, look closer and you will see that six additional states crept toward becoming swing states. Trump lost Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Virginia, Minnesota, and New Mexico by 10 percentage points or less; that means that a five-percentage point swing could flip them Republican, just as 2024’s seven swing states went.

But such movement was only in so-called purple states, those with substantial Republican bases, right? Wrong. Take deep blue California. Republicans were already making inroads into California’s electorate. In 2020, Trump lost California by almost 30 percentage points: (63.5 percent-34.3 percent, 5.1 million votes). In 2024, Trump’s deficit was down to about 20 percentage points (58.5 percent-38.3 percent, 3.3 million votes). Hardly within striking distance but striking, nonetheless.

Democrats’ hold on California is little short of a meaningful monopoly at the federal level. Of course, Democrats have both California’s Senate seats. They also have an overwhelming 40-12 majority in California’s House delegation.

Much of the Democrats’ national political power rests on their stranglehold of California. In addition to the congressional seats these give to the party, the state also gives huge amounts of money and high-profile endorsements (celebrities from entertainment, tech, and sports) to Democrats.

Imagine if the wildfires caused a rethinking of the California electorate’s overwhelmingly Democrat lean. As an example, if Trump’s share of the 2024 presidential vote were translated into House seats, Republicans would have an additional 8 seats and their 220-215 majority would go to a 228-207 majority in the House. And that would just be the result if California’s delegation matched the results Trump won months before today’s wildfires.

As California’s wildfires continue to burn, its electorate is simmering too. This could be their belated awakening moment. Certainly, all evidence indicates that it should be. It is dangerous when there is a monopoly of political thought. Especially, when it is so consistently wrong.

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READ MORE from J.T. Young:

Joe Biden: The Most Dangerous Man in America

Democrats Mistake Their People for ‘The People’

Pardons Shouldn’t Stop Investigations

J.T. Young is the author of the upcoming book, Unprecedented Assault: How Big Government Unleashed America’s Socialist Left from RealClear Publishing and has over three decades’ experience working in Congress, the Department of Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget, and representing a Fortune 20 company.

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