In 2020, this coastal city, nestled near the bustling metropolis of Los Angeles, appeared to be changing its political hue to blue, aligning with its liberal California beach town counterparts.
That transformation, however, seems to have taken a dramatic turn.
Huntington Beach is now firmly entrenched in a deep shade of red, with its sights set on challenging Governor Gavin Newsom.
Historically, this surfing haven was a bastion of Republican support. The political landscape shifted in 2020 when Democrats captured the city council, a development many interpreted as Huntington Beach mellowing in line with other coastal Californian locales. Yet, this change proved to be short-lived.
Last year marked a significant political reversal. In what many perceived as a reaction against the ‘woke’ policies from the previous liberal administration, three conservative candidates successfully unseated their opponents. This pivotal shift restored Republican dominance in ‘Surf City USA.’
Now, Huntington Beach stands as a vibrant red anomaly in a state renowned for its Democratic strongholds and progressive outlook.
California State Senator Tony Strickland dubbed the new city council team the ‘MAGA-nificent 7,’ and says their movement in Huntington Beach isn’t slowing down anytime
Strickland, who previously served as the 85th mayor of Huntington Beach, said the city thrives on being the political oddball in the state.
Huntington Beach is a stunning coastal city in Ocean County, California that is predominantly Republican – a shift from its former political leaning
In December 2024 the city council turned entirely Republican-run. City council members are seen in a snap wearing red ‘Make Huntington Beach Great Again’ hats
‘If you want to be successful, do the opposite,’ he told the Daily Mail.
Strickland said the beach city has honed in on specific issues, including homelessness and crime, but in a different way than the rest of the Golden State has.
He added: ‘We enforce our homelessness, our encampment laws. We don’t think it’s compassionate to leave someone on the ground or having urine and feces on the street. We give the law enforcement the tools they need, to enforce our homelessness.
‘Homelessness is down 24 percent in Huntington Beach, where it’s on the rise everywhere else in the state of California.’
The senator said crime is down about 200 percent ever since the city council turned red, and that’s because the community ‘prosecutes small crimes.’
He added: ‘We don’t let that go.’
The city council is also not afraid to go up against California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has dramatically different views and policies than Huntington Beach.
‘I think we’re one leader away from prosperity in California and California is a special place.
‘But the only one that’s messing it up is Gavin Newsom and his policies,’ the senator said.
Part of that fight, according to Strickland, is the legal housing battle between Huntington Beach and Sacramento – the state capital.
‘What they want to do in Sacramento is force urban living. There’s nothing wrong with urban living,’ Strickland explained before discussing why the proposed plan won’t work out in the coastal city.
‘People who live in Huntington Beach like the suburban, coastal community.
‘And what the housing mandate that came from the state of California was they want to urbanize, pretty much, all of suburban California.’
The state has proposed constructing 50 high-rise, ‘high-density apartment buildings,’ he added.
‘Well, that’s not what our citizens want and we’re pushing back and we’re going to court.’
California State Senator Tony Strickland told the Daily Mail Huntington Beach is so unique compared to the rest of California because leadership chooses to do the complete opposite of what a majority of the liberal state does
Activists are seen waving around American flags and holding up ‘GAVIN SUCKS’ signs in protest against Governor Gavin Newsom during the pandemic in 2020
The city has filed several lawsuits against the state over housing mandates.
Butch Twinning, one of the city council members who took the place of a liberal, echoed Strickland’s concerns over the housing proposal.
According to the Huntington Beach native, who has lived there since 1965, the value of land in the community is ‘massive’.
‘It’s extremely difficult to build affordable units in Huntington Beach,’ Twining told the Daily Mail, adding that the state has proposed building 13,368 new units in the community.
‘We’re going to have to either displace residents or businesses to meet the intent of the housing element. To meet the intent of what Sacramento is trying to do,’ he continued.
Twining also gave insight to the political demographic of his home city.
Nearly 57,000 residents are registered Republicans as of May, according to voting registration statistics shared with the Daily Mail.
The rest of the population is made up of 41,000 Democrats and 6,600 registered Independents. These totals come nearly a year after the city council turned red.
‘Republicans outnumber the Democrats significantly in this town,’ Twining stated.
Butch Twinning, one of the city council members who took the place of a liberal, has been living in the city since 1965. ‘Republicans outnumber the Democrats significantly,’ he said
Before the council was called the ‘MAGA-nificent 7,’ they were known as the ‘Fab 4,’ which involved Strickland, and three other members, Casey MeKeon, Gracey Larrea-Van Der Mark and Pat Burns, the current mayor.
At the time, there were four seats open on the council because three Democrats and one Republican had termed out, Twining explained.
The four remaining members then ‘hit the streets really really hard’ and got other Republicans to join them.
‘They won significantly, it was a massacre. It wasn’t that anybody hated the four people that were termed out, they were just Democrats and they did what Democrats did,’ Twining recalled.
‘It was all about social issues and people in Huntington Beach got tired of it.’
He and two others, Chad Williams and Don Kennedy, took those vacant spots.
‘Huntington Beach proves that conservative leadership works, and yes, we do the opposite of what they do in Sacramento because they’re doing it wrong in Sacramento,’ Strickland said.
