The state party won’t have an easy time distancing itself from Washington D.C. anytime soon, even if it wanted to, said Graeme Boushey, a political science professor at the UC Irvine. “With a national GOP that has itself moved towards more extreme politics, it’s hard for the state GOP to escape that shadow,” he said. Politics are increasingly nationalized, he continued. Many voters don’t know who represents them in Sacramento, or even in Congress, but they do know who the president is and to which party he belongs.

For the full story, please visit https://calmatters.org/articles/california-gop-2018-midterm-elections/.