Analysis: CA Reaction to Election Results
By Dianne Anderson
For those who think former Number 45, which is the same as incoming Number 47, is not their president, they may want to think again.
The day after the election, Republicans held high hopes, with stocks soaring, and $25 billion gained for Elon Musk alone, the biggest winner for the wealthiest man in the Trump camp and the world. Mass deportations are in the works, while Black residents and students across several states received their racist texts to check in for rides to plantations to pick cotton.
From California to the East Coast, the texts came by name, meaning the identities of even children and teens were compromised. The FBI said they’re looking into it.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson said Trump historically has embraced and at times encouraged hatred, but the NAACP is monitoring reports and coordinating with the community.
“These messages represent an alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric from racist groups across the country, who now feel emboldened to spread hate and stoke the flames of fear that many of us are feeling after Tuesday’s election results,” he said in a statement on the NAACP website.
Other concerns surrounding the incoming Trump Administration, besides oligarchy and autocracy, is the future of policies at the local levels.
In education, long-time San Bernardino board member Danny Tillman said he can’t speak for all districts, but to a large degree, San Bernardino Unified School District is insulated from some sentiment that may be happening in conservative areas of the county, such as Redlands.
“They just elected two mostly conservative board members, and a group supported them to get them elected. An area like that will be in tune with the kind of [policies] somebody would want to see happen, but our school board is a totally different makeup,” he said.
Education may be more protected in Democratic California, but even in the last Trump election, he said SBCUSD was safe. He stressed state and local controls are in place, and locally, they have an open, fair and honest board continuing good work.
“I went through this the first time with Trump. He talked about deporting and some family members heard about it, thinking the school was going to work with ICE to help deport children, but that never happened,” he said.
At this point, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a special session of the Legislature to pull policymakers together to strengthen California legal resources to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action, and immigrant families.
Newsom looks to support California’s defenses against the incoming federal administration that he said has threatened the state on multiple fronts.
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle. California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive,” he said.
Last week, Attorney General Bob Bonta also underscored his commitment to the state’s safety.
During the last Trump Administration, he said the California DOJ fought to stop illegal rollbacks and proposals that would have harmed the well-being, health, safety, and civil rights of people across the state and the country.
“That would have caused irrevocable damage to our environment. No matter who is in charge of the federal government, no matter what the incoming Administration has in store, California will remain the steadfast beacon of progress it has long been. A constant, unwavering, immoveable force to be reckoned with. We’ll continue to be a check on overreach and push back on abuse of power. Be the antidote to dangerous, extremist, hateful vitriol,” he said at his Nov. 7 press conference.
Political science expert, Elizabeth Jordie Davie, said Trump has doubled down on following the right wing of his party in a broad swath of policy areas.
Living in Blue California provides some insulation, but she said Trump flipped several California counties from blue to red this year and can’t be ignored.
“I anticipate fewer or the dialing back of civil rights protections for LGBT people, women, and people of color. I also anticipate deep governmental cuts to the bureaucracy and an unwillingness to protect the Affordable Care Act. Given his remaking of the judiciary in his first term, I am sure we will see more conservative courts at the federal level,” said Dr. Davies, assistant professor of Political Science at the University of California at Irvine.
In September, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar also spoke out against Trump’s Project 2025 which he said gives extreme MAGA Republicans total control to criminalize abortion, to gut Social Security and raise taxes for working families.
“It gives Donald Trump unchecked presidential power and unparalleled control over the American people. It is both deeply troubling and deeply unpopular because of the work of House Democrats, Leader Jeffries, Whip Clark, Jared Huffman, our own Vice Chair Ted Lieu and the leaders behind me today to put a spotlight on this dangerous plan, he said at a press conference. We know that House Republicans are in trouble because they are running scared anytime we mention Project 2025,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA).
Nationally, women’s health has resulted in many deaths and near-death experiences with documented cases of women who have died from sepsis, or bacterial infection and denied a life-saving abortion under state law.
In her campaign, Vice President Harris referenced an Idaho mother, Carmen Broesder, 35, denied by three emergency rooms and bled out as she carried a miscarriage for 19 days.
Nicole Ramirez said no matter who is president, the Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties, will continue to provide high-quality to all in need, as they have for nearly 60 years.
“When the Trump-appointed Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, we sprang into action to help out-of-state patients who were forced to travel to California for care through our Abortion Aid Program,” she said.
When anti-abortion members of the Fontana City Council blocked their health center there, she said that move also barred access to birth control, cancer screening, and other reproductive health services. Planned Parenthood became one of the first organizations to file a lawsuit against a local government for violating Californians’ rights under Prop 1.
“We are not going away. We are here for our patients, and we’ll do all that it takes to ensure that our patients are able to access the care they need. Our doors remain open,” she said.
Since 2018 when Trump first took office, hate crime has also increased, sometimes called the “Trump Effect,” a subject that is keeping researchers busy.
One recent study from Yale University analyzed a substantial increase during Trump’s first presidency, with a surge in anti-Semitic incidents by 86% in the post-election first quarter, a 91% increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes in the first half of 2017, and annual hate crimes trending and remaining 20% higher during his administration.
“Other research specifically tied these increases in hate crimes to Trump himself, finding that counties that hosted a Trump rally showed hate crime rates almost double those of similar counties with no rally,” the study found.
In another recent analysis, UCLA researchers looked at the impact of how Trump has weaponized words more than any other U.S. Presidential candidate, comparing his speeches to past and present politicians and foreign dictators.
They found Trump’s speeches at his most recent rallies in 2023 and 2024 employed the most violent language of his political career and were only marginally less violent on average than Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s May Day speeches from 1966 to 2006.
They also found that Trump’s language has also been documented to be simpler, more derogatory and less analytical than American politicians who came before him.
“How Trump’s vocabulary will evolve in the coming months remains to be seen,” Treisman said. “But the rising temperature of his rhetoric bears watching.”
In areas of health, DNC Senior Advisor Mary Beth Cahill said the Trump campaign will impact many aspects of health for the community, and the country.
“Once believed to be Donald Trump’s secret weapon, RFK Jr. is offering nothing but baggage for the former president,” she said. “By continuing to embrace RFK Jr.’s fringe views about women’s health, vaccines, and now, fluoride in water, Trump is showing voters just how desperate he is and the extremists he’ll surround himself with in a second administration. Both should terrify you.”
To see the Secretary of State Election results,
https://electionresults.sos.ca.gov/returns/maps/president
For ACLU plans to preserve Civil Liberties, see
We’ve Seen 105 Years and 19 Presidents. Trump’s Gotta Get Past All of Us.