Will shakeup in race to lead California’s GOP push party closer to Trump?

A big tent candidate’s withdrawal from the race to be chairman of the California Republican Party is widely seen as a lift for rivals who would try to rebuild the state GOP in the image of President Trump.

It might not work out that way, exactly. But David Hadley’s decision to quit his campaign to lead the struggling state party does shake up the contest, in which Trump supporters Travis Allen and Steve Frank are the only other declared candidates so far.

Hadley, the California GOP vice chairman and former Assembly member from Torrance, announced late Sunday that he no longer thinks he can win “while still running a campaign to unify the delegates and walk forward together after the convention.”

The vote for a successor to retiring chairman Jim Brulte of Fontana is scheduled to be taken Feb. 24 among delegates to the state Republican convention in Sacramento.

Hadley said he plans to continue to express his view to delegates.

“To be blunt, I have seen zero sign to date that the other chair candidates understand the magnitude of our challenges or the steps needed to rebuild the GOP’s fortunes in California,” Hadley wrote. “Perhaps my emails will have more impact on delegates when they are not part of a campaign for party office.”

Hadley did not return a phone call seeking further comment.

Since declaring in 2016 that he wouldn’t vote for either Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton, Hadley was seen by many as a voice of Republicans who believe the party must change its message to appeal to Latinos and other growing minority groups, particularly in California.

The question now might be how many moderates are left among party activists.

Observers said one possibility is that Hadley’s departure raises the chances of Republican delegates choosing a pro-Trump chairman: Allen, who represented the Huntington Beach area for six years in the Assembly before running for governor and finishing fourth in the June 2018 primary, or Frank, a political newsletter publisher from Simi Valley who wants the party to tout what he views as the Trump administration’s economic successes.

Another possibility, observers said, is that Hadley’s withdrawal opens the door for another candidate — or other candidates — to enter the chair race. Political consultant Joe Justin tweeted praise Monday for Jessica Patterson, a Simi Valley resident who is CEO of California Trailblazers, which recruits and trains Republican candidates for state legislative offices.

Patterson did not respond immediately to an email seeking comment.

The Feb. 24 vote, observers said, could hinge less on policy ideas than on chair candidates’ talents for organizing. Some in the party think the California GOP did so badly in 2018 partly because Democrats were quicker to take advantage of election rules. That included Democrats’ better use of newly legal tactics such as “harvesting” of mail-in ballots.

But whoever becomes state GOP chair will have to confront the reality that the party has been on the decline in California for many years. Last year, Republican Party registration slipped to No. 3 statewide, with 24 percent of the electorate, trailing both the Democrats, at 43.5 percent, and No Party Preference, at 27.5 percent.

In November, when Republican candidates were shut out of statewide offices, it was the third consecutive election to produce that result. Also, Democrats gained two-thirds super-majorities in both houses of the Legislature.

No GOP presidential candidate has carried California since George H.W. Bush in 1988. Trump received only 31.6 percent of the vote in the state in 2016.