Huntington Beach, California, with its picturesque coastal setting and iconic pier stretching into the Pacific Ocean, resembles many other beach towns along the Californian coast. However, in matters of politics, this city of approximately 200,000 residents situated south of Los Angeles stands out by staunchly opposing the typical stereotypes associated with blue states.
Throughout March, the beach town has transformed into a battleground, with its council chambers resembling a coliseum for culture warriors. Under the leadership of conservatives who have gained control of the city government, Huntington Beach has actively pursued policies aimed at positioning itself as an ideological counterbalance to the liberal leadership of the state.
Over the past year, the council, officially nonpartisan like all local bodies in the state, has championed a range of priorities aligned with the MAGA movement. These include prohibiting the flying of the Pride flag on city property, banning mask and vaccine mandates, establishing a panel to scrutinize children’s library books for sexual content, and publicly condemning President Biden’s immigration policies.
“We’re living in a state that’s not welcoming to us; conservative values are not really welcomed,” remarked Gracey Van Der Mark, the Mayor of Huntington Beach and one of the council’s four Republicans. “We just want a safe space for people who share our values. And why shouldn’t we have that?”
Huntington Beach, one of Orange County’s largest cities, has traditionally been associated with conservative ideals. However, its evolution illustrates how the intense polarization of national politics has seeped into even the most routine municipal affairs.
“It’s the tipping on its head of the old notion that all politics is local. Now, all politics are national, and I think the overall effect of that is really destructive,” explained Jim Newton, a public policy lecturer at UCLA and editor of Blueprint magazine. “It takes a sharply divided country at the national level and drags that down into local disputes.”
Similar to many areas in Southern California, contemporary Huntington Beach was influenced by industrial magnates. Named after railroad tycoon Henry E. Huntington, the city still retains remnants of its industrial past, with oil pumps scattered across the landscape, albeit less prolific due to the surge in housing prices.
Chris Jepsen, president of the Orange County Historical Society, noted that the city’s early oil booms propelled it towards development and corporate interests. This trajectory earned Huntington Beach a reputation for being strongly supportive of businesses and fiercely advocating for property rights.
Despite its political shifts, Huntington Beach’s focus remained primarily on local concerns, according to longtime residents. “Politics, Democratic or Republican, were not particularly important,” explained Tom Harman, a former Republican state senator who began his career on the city council in the 1990s. “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.”
During Harman’s tenure on the council, Huntington Beach was actively shaping its national image. While renowned for its surfing culture, officials in the ’90s capitalized on this reputation to attract tourists, branding the city as “Surf City USA,” inspired by a popular song.
However, the city’s burgeoning reputation as a hub for skinhead activity presented challenges to its family-friendly image. Two high-profile incidents of white-supremacist violence—the shooting of a Black man in 1994 and the stabbing of a Native American man two years later—forced the city to confront and address the presence of extremist groups drawn from across Southern California.
City police increased patrols, the council implemented a human dignity policy denouncing hate crimes, and officials established a human relations commission to combat bigotry. Ken Inouye, the founding chair of this initiative and a resident of Huntington Beach for over five decades, highlighted how residents from all parts of the city united because they believed in the city’s better nature.
However, these efforts were overturned with the arrival of the current Republican majority on the council. Shirley Dettloff, a former Democratic mayor who served from 1994 to 2002, recalled working collaboratively with Republicans on issues such as local wetland preservation and library expansion. “We wanted a better place and that’s what we worked so hard to build, and we’re protecting what we achieved at that time,” Dettloff emphasized. “We don’t want to go back to the days when people had to be afraid to live here.”
In recent decades, Orange County has experienced significant demographic shifts towards the left, but Huntington Beach has maintained its conservative stance amidst more subtle changes. Unlike other major cities in the county, Huntington Beach still predominantly comprises white residents, with Republicans forming the largest segment of registered voters.
Relevant articles:
– How a laid-back beach town became California’s MAGA stronghold, Washington Post, Mar 2, 2024
– This California Surf City Is Moving More and More to the Right With Books Bans and Other Policies, Advocate.com, Dec 16, 2023
– Is Huntington Beach really the Maga stronghold Californians fear?, The Independent, Mar 9, 2024
– The many reasons MAGA’s love for San Francisco shouldn’t stop with the Super Bowl, Los Angeles Times, Feb 10, 2024