It’s no secret. California conservatives are treated like an ATM for the national GOP — donors get hit up, but nothing meaningful gets built here. That defeatist mindset became a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially in Los Angeles County, where Democrats hold a staggering 2.9 million to 1 million registration advantage.
Yes, we’re outnumbered. But that’s not the whole story.
What we really lack is consistent investment, real infrastructure, and the will to build a permanent presence from the ground up.
As I wrote in my article, Inside the Machine: California’s Not Lost; It’s Been Abandoned, California Republicans need to stop thinking in short election cycles and start building for the long haul.
And that starts with the ground game.
Lessons From the Field
Forget think tank theories and Twitter hot takes. I spoke with a 26-year-old Republican leader (yes, 26) from L.A. County who isn’t pontificating on Zoom — he’s walking precincts.
From February to July 2025, he wore out his soles working signature drives and special elections from Huntington Beach to Riverside to San Diego County. His campaign roster includes:
- Tony Strickland’s State Senate Special Election (Huntington Beach, Feb 2025)
- Natasha Johnson’s State Assembly Special Primary (Riverside County, June 2025)
- John McCann’s County Supervisor Special Election (San Diego, July 2025)
- Tony Blain’s Recall Drive (Poway City Council, July 2025)
His verdict is blunt: California’s GOP field game isn’t broken, it’s mostly nonexistent. When it does show up, it’s often stuck in 1996.
But when done right, it works.
Paid canvassers using modern tools like Numinar and Vottiv — equipped with precise walk lists and real targeting — delivered real results. Expanding outreach beyond Republicans to include NPP voters made a critical difference. Campaigns that followed up door-to-door until securing a firm “yes” or “no” didn’t just build support; they built valuable data and sustained momentum.
Where things fell apart was in campaigns that treated the field as window dressing. One-day “blitz” walks made for good Instagram, but bad for strategy. Paper walk sheets without digital backups led to overlap, inaccurate data, and volunteer burnout. Glitchy apps, vague instructions, and zero training killed morale.
The lesson?
Volunteers bring the heart — but heart without structure is wasted energy. If California Republicans want to win, we need serious investment in the basics: paid ground teams, clean data, reliable tech, and operational discipline.
We don’t need to guess what works. We’ve seen it. Now, we need to scale it.
The Bigger Picture
The real problem isn’t that we lack people, it’s that we can’t fund them.
I spoke with a national GOP strategist whose grassroots operation boasts 400+ campaign victories and over 8 million doors knocked. He didn’t mince words:
“No funding in Cali is the problem.”
This is the guy whose team helped deliver Pennsylvania for Trump by raising $3 million for a ground game. When I asked what it would take to build a real Republican operation in California, his answer was simple:
“$5 million.”
And here’s the crazy part: We already have the numbers to make it happen. As of February 10, 2025, California has 5,776,356 registered Republicans. In Los Angeles County alone, there are 1,086,686 registered Republicans, and party registration has grown by 173,600 in just two years.
Now imagine this: If just 500,000 California Republicans — 8.66 percent of our registered base — each chipped in $10 (roughly the price of a Big Mac meal), we’d raise the $5 million needed to jumpstart a real, permanent statewide ground game.
But wait. There’s more.
If just 20 percent of registered Republicans in Los Angeles County — about 200,000 people — each donated $5, the price of a Starbucks coffee, it would prime the war chest of the largest Republican county party in the nation with $1 million.
That would be a solid foundation to power voter registration drives and build a ground game that doesn’t disappear after Election Day.
Rebuilding It Right
So, what does rebuilding California’s GOP ground game really look like?
- A permanent, relentless field operation that doesn’t pack up the day after Election Day
- Paid, trained canvassers drawn from the communities they’re organizing, not outsiders parachuting in
- Digital tools that actually work, powered by accurate data and real-time coordination
- Consistent, door-to-door outreach to low-propensity Republicans and disengaged NPP voters
- A visible presence at street fairs, farmers’ markets, and other local events
- Leadership development for young Republicans already grinding and ready to lead
- 500,000 registered Republicans stepping up to donate $10 each to fund it all
With over a million Republicans in L.A. County alone, this isn’t a lost cause — it’s a sleeping giant.
The question is: Will you be part of the movement that’s waking it up?
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