Huntington Beach is aligned with President Trump. Democrats hope to capitalize on his unpopularity.
Oct 5, 2026
Updated 12:15 pm PT
Rep. Robert Garcia (center) rallied Democrats in Huntington Beach, Calif. (Photo by Kerstin Zilm/KCRW)
Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, October 5, 2026
- Huntington Beach is famous far beyond Southern California – as Surf City. And for its MAGA policies. All seven city council members are strong supporters of President Trump. But this year, with his poll numbers down, Democrats sense an opportunity.
- Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate for governor, made a rare public appearance in Riverside on Friday.
- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders made a stop at Bakersfield High School Sunday night for a political rally. He was there to campaign for progressive Democrat Randy Villegas, who’s trying to unseat Republican Congressman David Valadao in the District 22 race.
Huntington Beach MAGA City Council faces Democratic momentum
Erin Spivey used to work at the public library in Huntington Beach, and tells KCRW, “I wanted to be a librarian for the rest of my life.” But that changed after the all-Republican City Council started taking on social issues: declaring Huntington Beach a non-sanctuary city, banning Pride flags on city buildings.
Finally, when council members wanted to restrict books in the library, Spivey’s fight against them became personal. She quit. Now Spivey is one of the so-called “Surf City Four”—four Democrats running for City Council who want to take over the council’s majority.
One reason Spivey is hopeful? Huntington Beach isn’t actually majority Republican. Nearly 60% of the city’s voters are either Democrats or independents. Jon Gould is Dean of UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology. “There are a number of residents who feel like the city council has just gone too far to the right. That has a tendency to lead to a backlash,” he said.
Republicans are working hard to get out the vote too. Current Huntington Beach Mayor Casey McKeon rejects allegations of extreme partisan politics and said the City Council just represents the values of a traditionally conservative town. “Very strong patriotism in Huntington Beach, strong family values, core conservative values,” McKeon said. “And so the community just really embraced our conservative beliefs, and it’s just representing what the people want.”
Becerra makes rare public campaign appearance in Riverside
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra made a rare campaign appearance in Riverside last week.
On Friday, Becerra stood in front of 100-or-so people at the United Domestic Workers Union Hall in Riverside, to stump for Clarissa Cervantes. She’s running for a state assembly seat that represents voters from Riverside to Corona.
Cervantes is a Riverside City Councilmember. She ran against the incumbent, Republican Leticia Castillo for the same seat two years ago. Cervantes lost by about 600 votes in a heavily Latino district.
Castillo won in part by riding President Donald Trump’s coattails as Latino voters turned on Democrats. Democrats believe voters have soured on Trump. And Becerra did everything he could to tie this race, and by implication Cervantes’ opponent, to the president.
Will Democrats’ midterm wave reach California’s Central Valley? Bernie Sanders rallies the vote
Even in Bakersfield, the heart of conservative California, insurgent populism is having a moment.
Exhibit A: The hundreds of sweaty Californians who braved 105-degree heat on Sunday to hear from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, progressive Democrats’ modern-day Moses. “Anytime he comes to Bakersfield, I always show up,” said local resident Kacie Mills, 34, who said Sunday was her third time seeing Sanders in her hometown. As a progressive in a historically conservative area, Sanders’ visits turn out people and organizations that “don’t get a lot of light,” Mills said.
This time, she was more excited to hear from Randy Villegas, a progressive 31-year-old community college professor hoping to unseat Republican incumbent Rep. David Valadao, who has represented the area for more than 12 years. “He’s someone who wasn’t really on my radar, and it’s nice to have someone who is, like, close to my age, who believes in things that I believe in,” Mills said.
Sanders held court at the high school alma mater of Republican former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, where he came to rally support for Villegas and other Democratic candidates. The contest in the 22nd Congressional District in central California is one of the most closely watched in the nation. “The good news is that people like Randy Villegas are standing up and running all over this country, taking on the establishment and winning!” Sanders said. “I want you to do everything you can, between now and election day, to make sure that Randy is your next congressman.”
Villegas earned thunderous cheers as he berated Valadao for supporting cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance in Trump’s mega budget bill, refusing to challenge Trump’s recent deals that undercut U.S. ranchers by importing cheap Argentinian beef, and for taking campaign contributions from wealthy corporations such as PG&E and United Healthcare.
The Valadao campaign declined CalMatters’ request to interview the congressmember. Villegas’ Sunday event in some ways gave Republicans what they have wanted; campaign operatives have been salivating at the chance to tie Villegas to far-left socialist ideology. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Republican leadership, spent more than $100,000 on mailers against Villegas in the primary to elevate his name ID among Democrats and push him past his more moderate Democratic opponent, Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains.
“I think it’s not a great idea to have this far left-leaning of a candidate,” said Cathy Abernathy, a Bakersfield-based Republican strategist who supports Valadao, though she does not live in his district. She said Sanders and Villegas woo voters with promises of free government-funded healthcare and other programs, and voters aren’t well educated enough in economics to interrogate how those programs will be funded.
