The Golden State is bleeding red. A new report in the Los Angeles Times cites a majority of all Californians--and a wide majority of conservatives--are considering leaving the state. High taxes and soaring housing costs are common reasons, but among conservatives the state's increasing left-wing policies are often the deal-breaker. "Of conservatives in California, 74 percent have considered leaving the state," says Chuck DeVore with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, himself a California transplant. "And the number one reason they give for leaving the state--84 percent cite the political culture."
DeVore tells KTRH that political culture has gotten even worse for conservatives since the election of President Donald Trump. "It's the sort of caustic attacks that people are getting constantly at work, at restaurants, and in public places," he says. "Their friends and their left-wing neighbors just can't leave them alone....it's like, 'you're wearing a MAGA hat, you must be evil.'"
As for the other main reasons people are fleeing California---high taxes and housing costs---DeVore believes they are also tied to the state's politics. "California is a nice place to live, of course...and houses and property probably would be a little more expensive there regardless," he says. "But when you add in all of the layers of left-wing policies, you really make the place unaffordable."
And most of those California refugees are coming here. California state figures show the state lost more than one million residents between 2007 and 2016, with Texas as the number one destination.
DeVore is among that group, having moved to Texas in 2011. Since arriving here, he has heard from a lot of his former fellow Golden-Staters. "They'd call me and say so tell me what it's like in Texas...and then like six months later I'd get another call saying yep, we moved," he says.