The state of California, which has been a blue stronghold for years, is "truly at a turning point right now," Jessica Patterson, the chair of the state's Republican Party, told Newsmax as voters headed to the polls in the primary elections Tuesday.
"We've seen poll after poll, the issues that matter most to Californians," Patterson told "National Report." "Today we reached another record high in California, at $6.37 per gallon of gasoline. It's $1.50 more than the national average."
Homelessness is also a big issue in California, she added, but Democrats "continue to throw money at the problem."
Democrats are also failing the state's students, Patterson claimed, noting it is a "50-50 chance whether your child will be reading at their grade level, and it's less than a third when it comes to math and science. They failed our children."
Crime is also a serious issue in the state, Patterson said.
"We had a holiday season that was covered with smash and grabs," she said. "We just a few weeks ago had a mass shooting just blocks away from the Capitol right outside the California Republican Party where we had a bullet inside our glass. This is not a safe place where people feel comfortable to live.
"We see people we leave every day. The ones that want to stay and fight know that we need change if we're going to be able to have good lives here in California a lot too."
Meanwhile, after the 2020 election, California brought more new Republicans to the House of Representatives than any other state in the nation, Patterson pointed out, so "protecting those four seats is going to be critical."
But after redistricting, the GOP has the opportunity to bring five new Republicans to the House, Patterson added.
"We will be watching those races to see who are the candidates that are getting through the primary and will be challenging Democrats come November," she said. "Up and down the ballot, we've endorsed in over 100 races pre-primary and we've been training candidates at a level of government from local school boards, board races all the way up to congressional seats, over 1000 candidates have been trained."
Meanwhile, some races could serve as a referendum on Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom or President Joe Biden, Patterson said, particularly in the district attorney races in San Francisco and Los Angles, where Newsom supported both candidates.
"We see what the radical regressive left has done to our communities, and this is a referendum on their choices and their poor leadership," she said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.