The Death and Resurrection of California

Honestly, the State of California is on life support.

And I don’t mean Death Valley. Face the facts, and you’re forced to conclude that the world’s fourth-largest economy — the most populous state in America, home to 40 million people, the land of “California Dreamin'” and Hollywood, the perfect fusion of coast and country — is due for a death certificate.

Like a trip to your doctor, here are the vitals. They aren’t good.

The poverty crisis

• California’s poverty rate sits near 20%, tied with Louisiana for worst in the nation. Adjusted for cost of living, it’s the single highest in the country — despite the state’s enormous economy.
• The gap between rich and poor has never been wider.
• Nearly 2.5 million undocumented immigrants live in the sanctuary state — more than any other in the union.

The homelessness crisis

• At least 187,084 Californians are homeless, the highest per-capita rate in the nation.
• Nearly one in four homeless Americans lives in California. The state accounts for 45% of the nation’s unsheltered homeless population.
• High housing costs, inflation, and stagnant wages are pricing families out of basic needs, hitting some communities far harder than others.
• The minimum wage rose to $16.90/hour in 2026, among the highest in the country. It’s also putting small businesses under.

The education crisis

• On the NAEP — “the nation’s report card” — California has landed in the bottom third of states for years, especially in reading and math. A generation of California kids is growing up functionally illiterate.

The crime crisis

• California’s violent crime rate runs 35.3% above the national average; its property crime rate, 18.1% above.

The exodus

• Nearly 3% of California businesses have fled the state, driven out by high taxes and heavy, excessive regulation.
• Over a million residents have left in the last three years, most for Texas, Nevada, Wyoming, and Florida — low-tax states.

The cost-of-living crisis

• Electricity runs 33.25¢/kWh, the highest in the nation. Gasoline tops $6.20 a gallon, 18% of it from state taxes alone.
• The state income tax tops out at 13.3%, rising to 14.6% — the highest combined rate in the country.
• Between property, sales, and income taxes, California collects more than $9,000 per capita in state and local taxes — more than any other state, by far.
• The state’s bond rating has slipped to AA-, a signal that Wall Street is now pricing in real risk that California won’t pay its debts on time.

Let that sink in. California cannot go on like this. The diagnosis is dim, verging on terminal.

So, what’s the cure?

The only prescription that can revive California is a change of leadership. That chance comes the first Tuesday in November, when voters choose a new governor, lieutenant governor, and a slate of down-ballot officials.

The choice is stark. More of the same — and more decline — under Democrats Xavier Becerra and Fiona Ma. Or a genuine turnaround under Republicans Steve Hilton and Gloria Romero.

The Republican ticket has built its campaign on a handful of core commitments to turn the state around. Nothing less will keep it alive.

1. Cali-fordability. Bring gas down to $3 a gallon and cut electricity bills in half.
2. Tax relief. Make the first $150,000 of income tax-free.
3. Housing. Launch a loan program for first-time homebuyers — and bring back the California Dream.
4. Tuition freeze. Lock in-state tuition at every public college and trade school.

Each of these moves the state in the right direction. But none of it works without also shrinking a bloated, bureaucratic Sacramento — cutting the regulatory burden and the cost and intrusion of government in every corner of Californians’ lives. That’s what would make the state livable again for working families.

This isn’t a slogan. It’s a mission: clean up the corruption in Sacramento, cut your costs, help your business, fix your kids’ schools. Frame it plainly, because the stakes are plain common sense — this is about life and death, decline and renewal, for the state we live in.

Decades of one-party Democratic rule built the California we have today: record poverty, an affordability crisis, a housing collapse, and government waste on a staggering scale. All of the research on one-party rule is consistent — entrenched power breeds exactly this kind of dysfunction.

It’s time to change that.