The Republican Party was born in 1854 as a primary vehicle to oppose the expansion of slavery in the United States.

In 1856, Republicans nominated John C. Frémont, one of California's inaugural senators, for the 1856 presidential election,[5] but he lost the state by a wide margin to Democrat and eventual winner James Buchanan, though he did win the state of New York.

In 1878, Republican California Senator Aaron A. Sargent introduced the language that would become the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which would allow women the right to vote.

[5] Republicans dominated state politics for most of the 20th century (they controlled the state senate from 1891 to 1958) until the 1960s when the Democrats once again became competitive with the rightward shift of the Republican Party, exemplified by their nomination of Barry Goldwater in 1964 (Goldwater lost California in a landslide).

Democrats have won most elections at the state, local, and federal levels since the 2000s by comfortable margins.

For example, despite failing to win the presidency, Hillary Clinton won a higher percentage of votes than any candidate since Franklin D.

Schwarzenegger and Steve Poizner, who later became an independent, are the last Republicans to win statewide elections in California.

Other notable California Republicans include former Governor and Chief Justice Earl Warren, former Governor and Senator Hiram Johnson, and former Senator and founder of Stanford University Leland Stanford.

[9] The following is a list of Republican statewide, federal, and legislative officeholders: Both of California's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 1992.

Appointed in 1991 by Pete Wilson who resigned his Class I Senate seat because he was elected governor in 1990, Seymour lost the 1992 special election to Democratic challenger Dianne Feinstein for the remainder of the term expiring in 1995.

In 2018, Poizner attempted to run again for his old seat of insurance commissioner, but did so without the affiliation to the Republican Party.

The last Republican to serve as lieutenant governor is Abel Maldonado, who was appointed in 2010 by Schwarzenegger to fill the vacancy when John Garamendi resigned to take a seat in Congress.

Maldonado lost his election in 2010 for a full term, and left office in January 2011.