Donald Trump has soundly won another term as president and in perhaps the most stunning part of this election, it wasn’t even that close.
As much as California is waking up to a new era of Trump power, we are also waking up to the fact that the majority of Americans do not share the values that this state holds dear: the ideas of equality; of respect for all people and our planet; of a rejection of racism and misogyny; of a desire to advance civil rights rather than roll them back in the name of Christianity.
Not only did Trump win the electoral college, but he also took the popular vote, something he failed to do the last time he won. Trump has grown his support, despite (or I am beginning to see, because of) his vicious and repressive promises.
America made it clear at the polls, this strongman is what they want. This is us, now.
The so-called blue wall of Midwestern states that put Joe Biden in the White House tumbled down, as did most of the swing states the Democrats had been banking on.
And then there is the Senate, where the Republicans also took control. The House of Representatives is up in the air, but may also go MAGA. And of course, Trump already seems to run the Supreme Court.
America isn’t just looking at another Trump term, though, but a second Trump presidency where he might hold sway over all branches of government, giving him a level of power exponentially greater than the first time around. Trump will seek to force upon us an agenda of international isolationism and domestic repression.
First and foremost — this was a free and fair election. Trump was elected by the will of the people, and democracy demands we accept that.
The next four years will be a test of those California ideals, though, and how committed we really are to them — because if we want to keep them, we will need to fight for them.
And as hard as it is for this bright blue, democracy-loving free-for-all to grapple with our government turning authoritarian overnight, we have to get up and get ready for that fight.
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The most troubling promise Trump has made is that he will immediately begin a massive deportation of undocumented people. With more than 10 million undocumented people living in California — many parents in blended status families — this could be devastating socially and economically.
Already, many immigration groups have created game plans on how to protect our hard-working neighbors and stop families from being separated.
But immigration is ultimately a federal issue, and a place where the state has few powers to stop deportations. Trump is likely this time around to crack down on sanctuary cities and states, and even perhaps use the National Guard to help with his plans.
How California and Californians respond to this deportation may be our first and most distressing challenge.
But it will not be the only one. Despite our commitment to reproductive rights, Trump does not need to pass a national abortion ban to curtail access to that procedure. He need only invoke the existing Comstock Act, which would make it illegal to transport abortion medications, or even put someone like, say, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administartion, where Republicans have long sought to undo approvals for such medications.
And then there will be the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, going far beyond Trump’s promise to further scapegoat transgender people. Though Californians just passed Proposition 3 Tuesday night, which repealed a ban on same-sex marriage and instead made it a “fundamental right,” it is not too far-fetched that MAGA will go after the 2015 Supreme Court Obergefell decision that made gay marriage legal. Undermining that ruling could undermine the validity of LGBTQ+ marriage at the federal level and in other states, potentially stripping away the rights marriages convey except in unions of a biological man and a biological woman.
There are more fights than this, but how much can we take in at once? So I’ll stop.
The point is that even with an authoritarian with unprecedented power in the White House, California can still fight — California must fight.
And as much as no one, myself included, wants to think about another election, this is also the morning Californians should start thinking about who will be our next governor and our next attorney general. Because in 2026, we will elect new state leaders who will need resolve and skill.
For now, Gov. Gavin Newsom has the unenviable job of attempting to pacify and combat Trump at the same time — much as he tried to do during the first Trump presidency.
While I don’t doubt he has many good reasons for leading that fight, Newsom also has a personal one: Kamala Harris is highly unlikely to come back for another run.
That means the field is wide open for Democrats, and Newsom has a fresh window to make his own bid for the nomination in 2028. So expect him to spend this remaining time in office building his reputation as the answer to Trump crackdowns.
California last time around also used the courts to push back on Trump policies, including on immigration and emissions. That was mostly under the leadership of then-Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, who was appointed to that job after Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate (and who has hinted at a possible run for governor). The state filed more than 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration, if not stopping his policies, at least tying them up in court.
This time, Rob Bonta (who may also have ambitions to become governor) holds that office, and has already said he too has plans in place to fight Trump policies.
Our state leadership is most certainly going to battle with this White House. But ultimately, they will only fight as hard and as long as their constituents want them to.
So this is our fight, as Californians.
It’s up to us to protect what now seems to be only a California dream — that all people have a right to pursue life, liberty and even happiness — in the hopes that we can once again, someday, restore that belief as the American dream.