California took a surprisingly red turn on key issues, upending its ultraliberal reputation

• Californians voted for some GOP-backed propositions and against some liberal ones.
• They voted in favor of increased criminal penalties and seemed poised to reject a minimum wage hike.
• Other blue states showed significant rightward movement on Election Day.

Even the bluest states in the US were not immune from a significant move to the right on Election Day

That was evident in California, the most populous US state, which has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1988. Well-known for its liberal politics, California has often drawn the ire of Republican politicians and some pro-business billionaires such as Elon Musk. Musk moved Tesla to Texas in 2021 and said this year he would also move X and SpaceX out of California, citing laws that he said attack “families and companies.”

“Paradise Lost” is how Donald Trump, now president-elect, referred to California during a campaign stop in the Coachella Valley last month, adding: “Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or independent, this election is your chance to send a message to the world, the people of California are not going to take it any longer.”

While Vice President Kamala Harris easily won California over Trump, a closer look at the numbers and votes at the state and local level tells a more nuanced story than the progressive reputation the Golden State has earned.

California voted for increased criminal penalties and against rent control

California overwhelmingly voted to increase penalties for certain drug and theft crimes despite Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s opposition to the measure, which he called a step back toward “mass incarceration.” Around 70% voted in favor of the proposition as of Friday.

Voters also rejected a proposition giving local governments more power to enact rent control, with 61% voting against it. Landlords, realtors, and some pro-housing groups opposed the measure, but the California Democratic Party, tenant groups, and some unions supported it.

Though the races had not been called as of Friday, voters in California seemed poised to reject two propositions supported by liberal groups: raising the state’s minimum wage and outlawing forced labor in prisons.

California voters did, however, vote to enshrine a state constitutional right to marry regardless of sex or race and to issue bonds for natural resource conservation.

Local races also suggested a move to the middle

Incumbent San Francisco Mayor London Breed lost reelection to Daniel Lurie, a moderate Democrat and political outsider. Lurie, heir to Levi Strauss, spent more than $8 million of his own money on his campaign.

Though Lurie is a Democrat, he received the support of some Republican groups in San Francisco who have criticized Breed’s handling of crime, drug use, and homelessness in the city. The San Francisco Republican Party had Lurie and candidate Mark Farrell as their top picks for mayor.

In Los Angeles County, voters rejected incumbent District Attorney George Gascón, a prosecutor known for being among the most progressive in the country. Gascón was elected in the wake of the 2020 racial justice protests.

Los Angeles voters instead elected former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, a former Republican who ran as an independent and has promised to roll back Gascón’s policies, which he said made it difficult to combat crime.

Other signs California was turning more red

Before Election Day, there were some signs the state’s electorate had shifted to the right. A survey by the Public Policy Institute of California said the number of registered Democrats this year was about the same as 2020, while the share of registered Republicans increased by a few hundred thousand.

Though the share of Californians switching parties from Democrat to Republican was small, the PPIC found it was most common among Black, Latino, and younger voters — all groups Trump picked up support with in other places as well.

California is still tallying its votes, so exactly how much the presidential vote changed from 2020 to 2024 is unclear. As of Friday, with around 63% of the vote counted, it appeared some inland counties were poised to flip from blue to red.

Other blue states with a greater share of their vote counted as of Friday also showed a consistent trend to the right.

Harris easily won Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Maryland — but by significantly smaller margins than President Joe Biden won them by in 2020.