Culture War Politics Have Been Costly for This California Town
Huntington Beach's elected officials are pursuing performative MAGA policymaking and keep losing in the courts.
Los Angeles is the City of Angels, Pasadena is the City of Roses, and Huntington Beach, once known as Surf City, has a new nickname: City of Losers.
Don't be offended, as I'm not criticizing the fine residents of that lovely community. But the City Council keeps pursuing performative MAGA policymaking and keeps losing in the courts. Unless it turns things around, this moniker might stick.
Politically, Huntington Beach used to be a typical coastal Orange County city. Local issues centered on the usual: protecting local wetlands, dealing with parking problems, harassing skateboarders, and policing drunken revelers. There was much to criticize, and I did so, given the city's abuse of eminent domain in its downtown redevelopment and its tolerance for heavy-handed policing.
"People didn't run on party preference. They ran on what they could do in the community and how they could make the city a better place to live," said former GOP council member and state Sen. Tom Harman in a 2024 Washington Post article about how the "laid-back beach town became California's MAGA stronghold." I sometimes butted heads with Harman, once calling him "Tax Hike Tom" in the Orange County Register. But he was a gracious and practical legislator who epitomized the city's politics.
Under the leadership of former Mayor Tony Strickland, Huntington Beach turned its "council chambers [into] a coliseum for culture warriors," the Post added. Strickland wasn't known as an ideological warrior in his days in the California Assembly, but he rode his newfound MAGA credentials into a successful race for state Senate. Meanwhile, city voters doubled down on MAGA by handing Republicans every council seat. A photo of them wearing red Make Huntington Beach Great Again hats in council chambers is emblematic.
Instead of focusing on the basics, the council has positioned itself as a foil to the state's admittedly annoying progressive leaders. It banned pride flags and is exploring the creation of a mural honoring Charlie Kirk. Per The New York Times, the council turned "a seemingly humdrum municipal task—commemorating the 50th anniversary of the city's central public library—into a political statement." The plaque said Magical Alluring Galvanizing Adventurous, or MAGA. Get it?
Substantively, the council has battled state efforts to loosen zoning rules to promote housing construction. These "conservatives" have opposed deregulation and defended the onerous California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in their NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) lawsuit against the state—in a way that would make a vociferous environmental leftist proud. They passed a Voter ID law in clear defiance of state voting laws and created a panel that would censor library books.
"We just want a safe space for people who share our values," Council member Gracey Van Der Mark told the Post. "And why shouldn't we have that?" The answer is obvious. City councils aren't playgrounds for activists, but governing bodies that represent every resident. Huntington Beach is facing budget problems, but the council has squandered taxpayer dollars on lawsuits that could fix potholes rather than provide safe spaces for snowflakes.
But the real story is the council keeps losing. It loses in the lower courts. It loses in the higher courts. It loses in the federal courts. It even loses occasionally at the ballot box. Instead of owning those arrogant Democratic progressives, the City Council gives Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta endless opportunities to gloat. Instead of increasing its local control as a charter city, the council's counterproductive actions have resulted in an increasing role for the courts and state officials. Instead of backing down, the self-described "MAGA-nificent 7" council always doubles down. It's embarrassing.
Recently, the state Supreme Court refused to review the city's appeal of a lower-court ruling requiring it to permit 14,000 housing units. The city was given 120 days to come up with a housing plan and has temporarily lost its ability to enforce its own zoning laws. It potentially faces fines and a handoff of its control to a court overseer. So much losing.
The city also predictably lost its Voter ID lawsuit after the court rebuked its flaccid charter-city arguments in the face of state election law. The city lost a lawsuit challenging its decision to move certain library books to a youth-restricted area. In a special election in June, 60 percent of voters rejected the city's library review panel. The council keeps appealing the legal verdicts.
"We signed a contract with our voters that we'd fight the state," Mayor Casey McKeon said, per VoiceofOC. (I'd love to see that contract and who signed it.) Meanwhile, another architect of its legal strategy, Michael Gates, is running again for city attorney after a short-lived stint in the Trump Justice Department, so it's a pretty good guess the city's losing streak will continue.
Donald Trump often criticizes "losers," so council members might want to change their ways before he learns about the city's new nickname.
This column was first published in The Orange County Register.
