In the aftermath of widespread Republican losses in the midterm election, California GOP Chair Corrin Rankin announced Wednesday night that she would not seek reelection next year.
“The recent election results have reinforced something I have said consistently throughout my chairmanship,” she said in a statement. “We must move beyond competing organizations and disconnected efforts toward a unified, coordinated strategy that puts winning ahead of everything else.”
In the state Legislature, the GOP is projected to lose eight of its 20 seats in the Assembly and as many as three of its 10 seats in the Senate. The party held eight seats in the California’s 52-member congressional delegation and is projected to lose at least half.
Such losses would result in the fewest Republicans in both state bodies since the 1875-76 session, according to Alex Vassar, communications manager at the California State Library.
Rankin, the former statewide president of the California Bail Agents Assn., was elected chair in March 2025. Her decision to not run for reelection comes amid a challenging era for California Republicans with many questioning the party’s direction in the wake of election losses this month.
The state GOP has been spiraling in voter registration and financial support for years. The party that launched the careers of Presidents Reagan and Nixon last elected GOP candidates to statewide office two decades ago. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 20 points, according to the secretary of state’s office as of Oct. 19.
State Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) questioned Rankin’s competence for the leadership role, saying in an interview with The Times that the chairwoman “doesn’t know how to manage a taco stand.”
DeMaio also took aim at the state party, saying that it will take more than a new chair to fix the GOP.
“What we first need to do is get a plan to fundamentally restructure the entire party,” he said.
He said that the “new California Republican Party has to have clearly defined roles, and they have to cut their budget down to the bare minimum with 100% of the remaining resources going to candidate support.”
Rankin followed in the footsteps of two state party leaders who were able to raise significant funds because of their relationships — Jessica Millan Patterson, a close ally of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and powerful former legislative leader Jim Brulte.
Rankin didn’t have such relationships, and fundraising suffered.
The state Democratic Party received nearly $40.9 million in contributions this year through Oct. 17. The state GOP raised nearly $3.3 million in the same stretch, during a time when Republicans were swamping Democrats nationwide in fundraising, according to the secretary of state’s office.
State Sen. Tony Strickland of Huntington Beach, who conceded his race for reelection this week, is the name most prominently mentioned as a potential successor to Rankin. Others include Rep. James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) and 2026 GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, both of whom also lost their bids last week.
Former state GOP Chair Ron Nehring pointed to Rankin’s roots as a GOP volunteer who rose through the ranks to become a party leader at an incredibly challenging time for Republicans.
“She got baptism by boiling oil in this election cycle,” he said.
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