California’s general election delivered wins across the board for Inland conservatives, from Donald Trump winning Riverside and San Bernardino counties to a surprise outcome in an Inland Empire Assembly district and right-of-center candidates winning school board seats in Temecula and Redlands. It’s welcome news for Inland Republicans who for years have grappled with Democratic gains in a once solidly red region. And a national demographic trend offers further hope for local GOP officials seeking to build upon last month’s victories. New Inland GOP Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, who scored an upset win over Democrat Clarissa Cervantes in the blue-leaning 58th Assembly District in the Nov. 5 election, said via email the GOP did so well “because we carry the winning message — one that resonates with everyday Californians.” That message, Castillo said, “focused on addressing the real challenges families face … from the soaring costs of homes, groceries and gas to the price of the water we drink, hard-working families are tapped out.” Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, center, gets a hug Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, after taking the oath of office at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside. She’ll represent the 58th Assembly District. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco speaks Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at a swearing-in ceremony for new Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) From left, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin and Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez are seen before a swearing-in ceremony for Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) New Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, right, takes a photo with her sister Victoria Galvan during a swearing-in ceremony at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, looks for family members Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, before her swearing-in ceremony at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, center, gets a pin after taking the oath of office during a Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, ceremony at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) From left, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin, Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, Riverside County Supervisor Karen Spiegel and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco pose for photos after a swearing-in ceremony for Castillo at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, is sworn in Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, laughs Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as Assemblymember Bill Essayli, R-Corona, speaks during her swearing-in ceremony at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) New Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, gets a hug from Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco after taking the oath of office Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, left gets a hug from her brother Robert Castillo as Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco claps during a Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, swearing-in ceremony at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, left, gets a hug from her mother Josefa Castillo after taking the oath of office Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, is sworn in Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco during a ceremony at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside. She represents the 58th Assembly District. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 13Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, center, gets a hug Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, after taking the oath of office at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in Riverside. She’ll represent the 58th Assembly District. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Expand “Californians want to feel safe in their homes, when they’re out shopping, or dining with their families,” said Castillo, who lives in the Home Gardens area outside Corona. “ …Yet it is Democrats and their policies that have threatened our access to affordable water, gas cars and gas stoves, while saddling families with skyrocketing costs and financial pressures.” Cervantes appeared poised to succeed her sister, new state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, in representing the 58th, which represents Jurupa Valley, Grand Terrace and parts of Corona, Eastvale and Riverside. Going into November, just 28% of the district’s voters were registered Republicans compared to 43% for Democrats. For decades, Riverside and San Bernardino counties were reliably Republican even as California became the deep-blue state it is today. The first sign of change came in 2008, when Democratic President Barack Obama won both counties. Four years later, after political redistricting redrew the Inland political map, Democrats won several contested Inland races for the state Legislature and Congress. Today, Riverside and San Bernardino counties have pluralities of registered Democratic voters. That said, the Inland Empire has never been a liberal haven. Gov. Gavin Newsom does poorly in Riverside County come election time, and the county is home to Trump-supporting Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is pondering a run for governor when Newsom is termed out in 2026. While Trump, who visited the Coachella area in October, lost California as a whole, he’s the first GOP presidential candidate in 20 years to win the Inland Empire. And his coattails may have helped down-ballot conservatives. President-elect Donald Trump pumps his fist while walking onstage Oct. 12 for a campaign rally just outside Coachella in Riverside County. (File photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Going into November, Democrats hoped to unseat Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, in a swing district representing much of Riverside County. He won reelection, giving the GOP a vitally needed seat en route to keeping control of the House of Representatives. Despite well-funded Democratic opponents, Assemblymember Greg Wallis, R-Rancho Mirage, and state Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, R-Yucaipa, also won new terms in districts that overlapped Calvert’s district. “The Republican Party of Riverside County had no greater priority than re-electing Congressman Calvert and Assemblyman Greg Wallis,” Matthew Dobler, Riverside County GOP chairman, said via email. “Our voter registration and (get-out-the-vote) efforts were geared in many overlapping areas in Calvert and Wallis overlap areas.” New U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California, won statewide, but lost to Republican Steve Garvey in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The Inland Empire also voted to the right of California on statewide ballot measures, with just slight majorities of Inland voters favoring a California constitutional amendment to protect same-sex marriage that won approval with 62.6% of the statewide vote. Also, more than 60% of Inland voters opposed a failed ballot measure banning mandated prison labor; just 53% of all California voters opposed it. Conservatives also won at the local level, including school board races. Joseph Komrosky, who was recalled from the Temecula school board this summer, won his seat back while candidates favored by conservatives won two other seats on that board. In Redlands, two of three Christian conservatives endorsed by the Inland Empire Family Political Action Committee won school board seats. Nationally, the Latino vote in 2024 swung toward Trump. That trend may have contributed to the GOP’s Inland success, with Latinos making up more than half the population in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. For Mike Madrid, a GOP political consultant and expert on Latino voting trends, the success of Republican messaging to Inland working-class Latinos came down to one word: affordability. “Broadly, it’s economic conditions and inflation but overwhelmingly affordability is what was motivating working-class voters who are increasingly multi-racial and Latino specifically,” Madrid said via email. Polling showed Trump with an edge over Kamala Harris when it came to the economy and inflation. Kristin Washington, San Bernardino County Democratic Party chair, cautioned against viewing the election as proof the Inland Empire is more conservative. “I’m not convinced the IE is any redder today than it has been,” she said via email, noting that in past elections, “we see evidence of a reliable conservative voter base turn out for local candidates in San Bernardino County” to help the GOP win local races. While there was “a small uptick in Republican voters” in November, “what stands out to me is that the independent voters who have voted with the Democrats in the past, did not show up,” Washington said. Volunteers Aidan Prado and Greyson Avila work for Ken Calvert’s reelection campaign in this June 2024 file photo. (File photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) “They didn’t show up for Democrats, but they didn’t turn up for Republicans either,” she added. “To me, that is not an indication that the region has gotten any redder. It’s a sign that a large bloc of voters were frustrated that they weren’t hearing what they wanted to hear from either party.” Joy Silver, Riverside County Democratic Party chair, puts Inland results in the context of a global trend tied to voter frustration with post-COVID inflation that punished incumbents. “Globally, countries holding national elections consistently show voter dissatisfaction with their governments regardless of party, estimated at 80% of democracies,” Silver said via email. “The incumbent loss … regardless of whether they are on the right, center, or left, appears to be predicated on pandemic inflation after COVID.” Silver noted that Democrat-backed Elizabeth Tucker won a race for judge in Riverside County against Gerald Pfohl, who was backed by conservatives. Tucker’s win “shows that a pathway exists for us for the future,” Silver said. While Inland Republicans celebrate their wins, Inland Democrats are trying to chart the way forward. “The Democratic Party is the only major political party that has consistently fought for working people,” Washington said. “If IE voters did not hear us saying that in our words and through our policies, then we have a lot of work to do before the 2026 election cycle. Democrats will need to spend more time listening to IE voters and hearing from voters in their own words what they want from the party and our candidates.” Seventy-one percent of California voters cast a ballot in November, a lower percentage than previous presidential elections. Voter turnout was 70% in Riverside County and just 64% in San Bernardino County. “Turnout is the most obvious reason why the Inland Empire voted more Republican in 2024,” Marcia Godwin, a professor of public administration at the University of La Verne, said via email. “There is a clear pattern in California of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents being less likely to vote in lower turnout elections.” But what had been a widening gap between the GOP and Democrats in Inland voter registration “came to a halt in 2024,” Godwin said. Related Articles Local Politics | Redlands council elects Mario Saucedo mayor, rejects seniority-based rotation Local Politics | Josh Newman, recently ousted from state Senate, is already eyeing political comeback Local Politics | Jurupa Valley City Council election recount is over. Here’s who won Local Politics | With 2024 election done, Democrats focus on this Southern California House seat for 2026 Local Politics | What’s next for Katie Porter? For now, it’s teaching and learning, she says “The percentage of registered Republicans went up a bit in San Bernardino County while the percentage of Democrats went down. The Riverside County registration was very similar to 2016.” She added: “Declines in Republican Party registration may have bottomed out. We could be in for some volatility within the IE on top-of-the-ticket (races), depending on voter engagement and get-out-the-vote efforts. Still, party registration shows more of a purple region with blue highlights in high-turnout years and red highlights in low-turnout years.” Going forward, Dobler said the Riverside County GOP “(has) to play offense to ensure we not only sustain the gains we made but build on them.” Castillo expects the GOP to continue winning Inland elections. “The IE is awake, and there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle,” she said. “Voters here are focused on protecting their future and the future of their children. Today’s Republican Party will represent every person, every family, every ethnicity, and that will continue to be our winning formula.”