What election?

Like other local media outlets, the CN&R turned its full attention to the Ridge and surrounding foothills over the past couple of months. At certain points, it felt like the Camp Fire was the only thing newsworthy. Every once in a while, though, I’d remember that an election took place just two days before the disaster.

“Can you believe we were just at the polls?” I’d say to my colleagues in rhetorical bewilderment.

Aside from our initial reporting on the outcome of the Nov. 6 contests, and our regular coverage of city affairs, we haven’t carved out much time for politics in the wake of the firestorm. Our annual Whom to Watch issue (see page 16), which includes interviews with three local representatives, drew my interest back to that arena.

But first, let’s rewind a little Last spring, I wrote in this space about how voter registration stats for California reflected that the GOP is now relegated to a third party. That’s when the state reported that the number of people who identify as so-called “no party preference” (NPP) eclipsed that of registered Republicans.

I recalled that announcement this week and headed over to the Butte County Elections website to see how things stand in our backyard. Chico is still home to more registered Republicans than NPPs, but by a margin of only 392, according to data compiled in December. For context, the city is home to nearly 21,500 registered Democrats and about 13,000 Republicans.

But that’s not the end of the bad news for the local GOP. Its registration has contracted by about 100 voters over the past two years, according to the aforementioned party registration stats and those from 2016. Meanwhile, during the same period, Democrats gained more than 3,800 voters.

But wait, what? Given what you just read—especially the Democrats’ 8,500-voter advantage on this small far-Northern California island of blue—you might expect the lefties to have killed it in the November race for three open Chico City Council seats. Instead, the top vote-earner, progressive Alex Brown, edged out conservative Kasey Reynolds by just a few hundred votes.

How’s that? Well, keep in mind that Reynolds—like many Republican council candidates before her—was a fundraising powerhouse. She took in north of $70,000 while Brown raised just over $40,000, according to the most recent disclosure reports. Brown’s win alone tilted the panel back to a liberal majority. On top of that, progressive Scott Huber’s third-place finish gives that bloc a 5-to-2 hold for the next two years.

Unfortunately for the lefties, they’ve taken control at a perilous time. The city is now housing an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 additional residents, putting a strain on city services and the budget. Things are bound to get worse before they get better, and those in power are the first to be blamed.

That’s what happened back in 2014, when the liberals on the council became easy targets for challengers who painted them as the culprits of the financial straits caused by the Great Recession. The right-wingers ended up wresting control of the council—indeed, they swept the open seats—and could do so again in 2020 depending on what happens in the next 22 months.