California Republicans, energized by district gains made during the 2024 general election, selected their new party leader, Corrin Rankin, a former surrogate for President Donald Trump, over the weekend at the CAGOP annual convention in Sacramento.
She is the first-ever Black woman to hold the position, and she’s pro-MAGA.
“It’s time to end the Democrats’ one-party rule and make California great again,” the new CAGOP chair said to delegates after her win on Sunday.
In an interview with Fox News Digital on Monday, Rankin said there is “an outcry for commonsense politicians in California” and that the party, which has noticeably been given new life by Trump, is strongly aligned with the president’s national agenda. It’s an uphill battle against the state’s deep-blue Democrat trifecta, but it’s one that Rankin has her eyes set on as she prepares to lead the party under a second Trump term.
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California Republicans chose their new party leader, former Trump campaign surrogate Corrin Rankin. (Corrin Rankin)
“I’ve worked on every single one of his campaigns for the past 10 years, and I have a great relationship with the Trump administration, and I plan to continue that,” Rankin said. “I want to welcome President Trump. We want to invite him to California. We would like to see him here as many times as we can.”
In the 2024 general election, Trump flipped several California counties red that had supported former President Joe Biden in 2020. Those counties include Butte, Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Lake, Merced, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Joaquin and Stanislaus.
“A lot of people are favoring his policies show that through the campaign, a lot of counties flipped from blue to red, and a lot of voters voted for the top of the ticket,” said Rankin, who was the 2016 statewide coalition director for African Americans for Trump. “They voted for President Trump, and that goes across the aisle, people were voting for him.”
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President Donald Trump speaks as first lady Melania Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom listen after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 24, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
Rankin said there’s an “underlying change” occurring in California, as the party is hopeful it can make the state less blue while more voters move to the center. The new GOP chair pointed to the newly elected mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie, who is “a lot more moderate than the former mayor, London Breed,” as an example of that change.
“I think that California is moving from the far left and more towards the center, and as the California Republicans, it’s our job to make sure that we are offering solutions, that we’re articulating our policies and our vision and how we want to represent our constituents,” Rankin said.
The economy and public safety are going to be two major platform issues for the CAGOP moving forward, Rankin added. California has some of the highest state income and business taxes in the nation, and Republican lawmakers have doubled down in recent years, introducing bills to address affordability and the uptick in crime across the state’s major cities.
The Golden State will hold its gubernatorial election in November 2026, with the next governor replacing termed-limited Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom. Rankin said the CAGOP has not favored any candidates yet and is waiting to see the full landscape of candidates who throw their hat in the race.
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The California State Capitol building in Sacramento (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for National Urban League)
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Regarding Trump’s contentious relationship with Newsom, who signed a $50 million package bolstering the state’s legal defense against potential threats from the administration, Rankin said the CAGOP’s role will be contributing to the “ongoing conversation” between state and national politics.
“We’re going to make sure that our message is heard and that our message resonates with Californians and [Californians] know and understand the position of California Republicans,” Rankin said. “And I think, at the end of the day, we take a look at Prop. 36 and how it passed overwhelmingly, and that was a Republican-led initiative to make sure that we are fighting back on these Newsom-led soft-on-crime policies; and Californians overwhelmingly voted with us, so we’re going to take that same approach to every single issue.”