As a Californian I have to disagree. The only reason you think it's being run just fine is because of the success of the private sector. The only reason California would be the 4th/5th largest economy in the world is because of the the tech industry and other industries that are in California (Hollywood, agriculture, etc). It's not because we have some awesome efficiently run state government.
We don't need to look at other countries, just look at other States. California is quite poorly run by the standards of other States. I'm a California native but I've lived in and worked with many other States. You don't realize how appallingly bad California government is until you have to work with their counterparts in other States.
It isn't a red versus blue thing, even grift-y one-party States like Washington are plainly better run than California.
Here's an example, took the money and delivered mostly an infeasible version of battery swapping with probably their existing factory install tech lightly modified: https://centerforjobs.org/?p=4600
I think California might have a better run government if it had an electable conservative party. The Republican Party is not that, being tied to the national Trump-Vance-Orbán axis. A center-right party could hold Democratic officers accountable but it’s not being offered and moderates gravitate to the electable Dem side. An independent California would largely fix that.
As a lifelong California Democrat, I realize that my party does not have all the answers. But the conservatives have all gone AWOL or gone batshit so we’re doing the best we can without the other half of the dialectic.
I think the Republican Party’s positive reputation for handling the economy and running an efficient government is entirely unearned.
Closing down major parts of the government entirely (as Project 2025 proposes), making taxation more regressive, and offering fewer social services isn’t “efficiency.”
I don’t know if you know this but you’re already in the center-right party. The actual problem is that there’s no left of center party, as well as the general need for a number of aspects of our democracy to be reformed (like how it really doesn’t allow for more than two parties to exist, or how out of control campaign finance rules have become).
Democrats (especially in California) are somewhat to the right of socialist parties in Europe, and of course they’re neoliberal. But on most non-economic social issues, they’re quite far to the left compared to most European countries. So it really depends on what you consider more important to the left.
You could consider my definition of “left” and “right” to mean economic policy in this case.
Considering that the economy is supposedly to be the number one concern to most US voters, there really isn’t anything very far left available to vote for in that area.
California republicans are extremely moderate (or at least, there have been moderate candidates for governor of california almost every year), so I have no idea what you're talking about. The last GOP governor of California was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is a moderate republican by basically all standards.
Some of them are very moderate, some of them have become more radical. But all of them are tied to a national brand which is not particularly electable here. Christian populism cannot win a majority here, yet to secure the right of their party all of the Republican candidates must say they support Trump. The national party is an albatross around their necks.
Do you mean to say that the government was deeply underwater a few years ago? And the state marred by forest fires that it was frightening to see if it could ever come back ?
As a Californian I have to disagree. The only reason you think it's being run just fine is because of the success of the private sector. The only reason California would be the 4th/5th largest economy in the world is because of the the tech industry and other industries that are in California (Hollywood, agriculture, etc). It's not because we have some awesome efficiently run state government.