California’s Radical Agenda Pushes Residents Toward Texas

The results of the 2024 CPAC California Scorecard are devastating for freedom-loving Californians. The report reviewed 21 votes in the State Senate and 12 votes in the Assembly. Unfortunately, findings confirm that California has become a breeding ground for radical leftist ideology at the expense of its citizens’ liberty, safety, and prosperity.

The State Senate averaged an astonishing 23%, with Democrats earning an unsurprising 5% score, having abandoned even the pretense of moderation. Senate Republicans held firm with an impressive 85%, despite being outnumbered by a significant margin. The Assembly proved to be similarly bleak, with Democrats scoring a disgraceful 4% while Republicans averaged a strong 84%, bringing the overall average to barely 22%. These numbers cement California’s domination by the radical liberal left, who are determined to corrupt what little potential remains for Californians to thrive.

Rather than addressing steadily increasing local crises like crime, homelessness, and economic decline, lawmakers spent the year eroding individual liberty with destructive policies. Bills such as AB 218, which accelerated restrictions on oil and gas production, and AB 3233, which granted veto power to localities obsessed with climate extremism, directly undermine America’s energy independence. Foreseeably, Californians are already paying the price with skyrocketing utility bills, soaring job losses, and an increasingly feeble power grid.

Meanwhile, workers and entrepreneurs face relentless attacks. AB 2113 expanded reporting requirements on small businesses to suffocating levels, creating hours of red tape hurdles that could have been spent serving customers. AB 2166 piled new mandates on hairstylists in the name of “equity,” raising entry barriers for those who want to join the cosmetology field, which was once one of the most accessible small business paths in the state. Disguised as ‘consumer protections,’ these gatekeeping mechanisms stifle innovation, harm often family-run small businesses, bar people from pursuing new trades, and strangle the American Dream through bureaucratic burdens designed to choke out smaller competitors.

Even more alarmingly, Sacramento has turned its power against its dwindling population of law-abiding citizens. AB 2917 expanded gun confiscation laws, granting the state even more authority to strip firearms from individuals based on accusation rather than conviction, sidelining the due process they claim to care so much about. Simultaneously, bills like AB 2127 and SB 1174 nearly abolished safeguards for election integrity by expanding automatic voter registration and loosening safeguards around verifying voter identity, essentially inviting fraud while eroding trust in the democratic process. California politicians are concerned with protecting themselves, not their voters. By criminalizing self-defense and enabling criminals, the state has eroded what little security Californians still have.

But voters are fed up. With over 102,000 Californians moving to Texas in 2022 alone, the southern state’s conservative policies create an environment of lower taxes, affordable energy, and stronger protections for personal freedom, things Californian lawmakers consistently fail to deliver to their voters. In search of their stolen liberties, these cross-country movers highlight a stark political verdict: families and businesses are rejecting California’s legislative failures and choosing a future built on freedom, security, and opportunity.

California now stands as a living warning of what happens when radical leftists seize unchecked power. Unless California changes course, Texas will continue to reap the rewards of California’s mistakes.