Elected officials, political consultants, junior legislative staffers, and union reps converged on Anaheim this weekend, fired up for the California Democratic Party convention. Over the course of three days, they drank, they ate, they went to Disneyland, and they promised over and over to fight.
Whom are they fighting? President Donald Trump and Republicans. Where? Everywhere. How? No one seems to know.
Figuring out what Democrats plan to do to win back voters felt like a sucker’s bet from the beginning. Conventions aren’t the place for new ideas and strategies; they’re an orgiastic celebration of the status quo. But considering Trump’s rapid dismantling of the federal government and attacks on civil liberties, the repetitive chants of “When we fight, we win” felt as comforting as being stuck on a boat in “It’s a Small World.”
Of the dozens of elected officials and political insiders I spoke with, most admitted that this year’s convention was alarmingly mired in the same themes and mantras that doomed Democrats in 2024. A resolution proposing an age limit on elected officials was strangely “postponed” before the convention started, and no significant challengers tried to dethrone Rusty Hicks, the state party’s chair since 2019.
Perhaps most notable about this year’s convention was the glaring absence of Gov. Gavin Newsom and potential successor Kamala Harris — California’s two most prominent Democratic leaders now that Nancy Pelosi is in the twilight of her congressional career. Many deduced that the no-shows were a calculated strategy.
Harris likely didn’t want to be badgered about the ongoing saga of Joe Biden’s health and her career plans. Most people in attendance expressed support for Harris’ expected run for governor — at least when they were on the record; off the record, not so much. Many within the party are tired of reshuffling the deck with the same old candidates, but few are willing to say as much publicly.
Meanwhile, Newsom’s absence could suggest his MAGA-suckling podcast has backfired to a degree anyone could have seen coming. A few insiders joked that his embrace of uncomfortable conversations apparently doesn’t extend to his fellow Democrats.
California’s bench felt particularly thin during Saturday’s general sessions, when appearances by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz garnered the most excitement. The latter admitted to being an imperfect messenger considering his election loss with Harris but offered the closest thing to a vision forward.
“The system is screwing over young people, making it more difficult,” Walz said. “So, for us, we’ve got to make sure upward mobility is part of what we do. Celebrate them, shake up the status quo, make sure that no young people are left behind and have the damn courage.”
The lack of fresh ideas came into stark relief Saturday evening, when I bumped into Jake Hackett, a burly and bearded 35-year-old from Orland, a tiny Northern California town that is famous for its queen bee population.
As the sea of delegates hightailed it from the Anaheim Convention Center to frolic one more night in Disneyland, Hackett stood tall as one of the few willing to go against the grain — literally, I think he was a bit lost — and say what many Democrats are only thinking.
“Honestly, Rusty Hicks is a lot less popular than I think most people think,” Hackett said, taking aim at the state’s party chair. He added that the same thinking could be applied to Harris.
“I think that there’s plenty of people that aren’t voicing their opinions, but in private a lot of people are not happy for Kamala’s Plan B or whatever,” Hackett said.
One insider told me major donors are more likely to back Harris for governor because it will ensure she doesn’t try to run for president again.
The most pressing issue for Democrats is winning back young males, who voted in droves for Trump last year. However, such talk was usually coded in syrupy language that sounded like therapy, and nothing on the matter made it into the state party’s final platform. An insider noted that the state party’s resolutions committee continues to get hung up on nonissues, as it spent considerable time debating whether it should use the term “people” in its written priorities or call out every single identity group.
The slogan for this year’s Democratic convention was “California Strong,” an ironic choice considering that phrasing is generally used after a mass shooting to suggest a community will overcome. But the truth, in this country, is that the bullets keep coming, and the survivors of gun violence are often left traumatized and broken. If it weren’t for the natural pendulum swing of midterm elections — Democrats are expected to win back the House in 2026 — the party might be in deeper trouble.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who took pains during her speech to note the long arc of history on civil rights, seemed to be one of the few California representatives to understand the enormity of what’s at stake for Democrats. She reiterated that Trump, the 47th president, will not be the final boss Democrats face.
“There are a bunch of other 47s coming after him,” Weber said.