British Columbia just threw out the left. Could California be next?

Some said it couldn't be done.

For much of the past two decades, the political landscape in British Columbia has been dominated by the increasingly woke, leftist New Democratic Party and supposedly moderate Liberal governments without the nerve to reduce the power of the state.

Even the emergence of Jerry Brown, derisively nicknamed 'Governor Moonbeam,' in the swinging '70s did not permanently extinguish Republican political fortunes.

That all changed Saturday night.

The Conservative Party of BC and its leader, Lorne Doerkson, humiliated NDP Premier David Eby. According to preliminary results from Elections BC, the Conservatives are leading in 63 of the 93 seats in the provincial legislature, capturing 48.06% of the popular vote.

The defeat was particularly humiliating for Eby because he had called the snap election himself, two years ahead of schedule. Instead of securing a renewed mandate, he handed the Conservatives a commanding majority and announced his resignation as NDP leader.

British Columbia has long been compared to California, not only because it occupies the West Coast of North America but because it has long been associated with crazy political leaders and even crazier political movements.

Today, British Columbia is defined by massive government spending and debt, along with urban centers struggling with homelessness, public disorder, and the consequences of permissive drug policies.

Sound like San Francisco, anyone?

But British Columbia was not always so left-wing or the very picture of economic mismanagement. And neither was California. Remember Gov. Ronald Reagan?

A Conservative comeback

Doerkson has promised a new direction for the province, emphasizing economic opportunity and a government more responsive to ordinary British Columbians.

One of the most difficult battles awaiting his administration concerns the province's increasingly contentious Indigenous land claims and the legal uncertainty surrounding private property rights.

Doerkson has promised to repeal the province's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. The legislation, adopted in 2019 with all-party support, was intended to bring provincial laws into alignment with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. But critics argue that the law has contributed to uncertainty about the province's obligations to Indigenous groups and the rights of other British Columbians.

Doerkson has made his position clear. Speaking after the election, he said DRIPA had failed to resolve disputes involving land and resource development and had instead contributed to continuing litigation.

Those concerns have become especially acute following a landmark ruling involving land in Richmond, a waterfront suburb of Vancouver.

In August 2025, the British Columbia Supreme Court recognized Aboriginal title held by the Cowichan Nation over approximately 732 acres of land in Richmond, including areas containing privately owned property.

The ruling raised serious questions about the relationship between Aboriginal title and conventional property ownership. Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie warned that the decision undermined the reliability of the province's land-title system.

“The Court's untenable decision cannot remain unchallenged,” Brodie said in the city's announcement of its appeal.

The city appealed, as did the provincial and federal governments. The Canadian government has acknowledged that the ruling could have significant implications for private property rights and that greater legal clarity is needed.

The decision did not order homeowners to vacate their properties. Nevertheless, it has alarmed property owners who believed their registered titles provided secure ownership.

For Doerkson, the controversy presents a formidable challenge. Indigenous land rights are constitutionally protected in Canada, and overlapping territorial claims have long complicated questions of ownership, development, and government authority in British Columbia.

His government will have to navigate those obligations while addressing the concerns of property owners who fear that the rules governing their homes and businesses are changing beneath their feet.

BC wasn't always socialist

One mistake commentators make is assuming that British Columbia has somehow been socialist for the past century because the last government elected under the Conservative Party banner dates to 1928.

In fact, much of the province's modern history was dominated by the BC Social Credit Party, which was conservative and populist.

Social Credit governed British Columbia for all but three years between 1952 and 1991.

W.A.C. Bennett was premier from 1952 to 1972. His son, Bill Bennett, became premier in 1975 after three years of NDP government under Dave Barrett. The Socreds remained in power until 1991, when the NDP defeated them.

The BC Liberal Party, which subsequently became the province's de facto center-right party, took power in 2001 and governed until 2017.

So the notion that British Columbia is naturally or permanently left-wing is nonsense. Conservative governments have governed the province for much of its modern history, even when they operated under different party names.

Doerkson's victory is remarkable, but it is hardly without historical precedent.

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JP Yim/Getty Images

Could California follow?

So can this kind of political phenomenon happen in woke, leftist California, a state struggling with enormous fiscal pressures and a myriad of destructive progressive social policies?

You can only push people toward the edge of a cliff for so long before they begin to push back.

California was Ronald Reagan country. He governed the state from 1967 to 1975. The Golden State supported Republican presidential candidates in nine of the 10 elections between 1952 and 1988, including Richard Nixon, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush.

Even the emergence of Jerry Brown, derisively nicknamed "Governor Moonbeam," in the swinging '70s did not permanently extinguish Republican political fortunes.

Republicans George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson subsequently governed California for a combined 16 years. Arnold Schwarzenegger, another Republican, won the governorship in the 2003 recall election and was re-elected in 2006.

California's present Democrat dominance is therefore a relatively recent development in the state's political history.

Of course, British Columbia and California have different political systems. The BC Conservatives benefited from a parliamentary system in which winning a majority of legislative seats delivers control of the government. California Republicans would have to overcome entrenched Democrat advantages in statewide elections.

But British Columbia's election demonstrates that political dominance can evaporate when voters become sufficiently dissatisfied with the people governing them.

Eby thought he could strengthen his position by calling an early election. Instead, voters delivered a Conservative majority and sent him packing. California's Democrats might want to take notice.

If British Columbia can turn its political fortunes around, why not California?

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