FDR made it a blue bastion – now it’s Trump’s stronghold in California. Is it forever lost?

Shasta County, in far northern California, has gone from one of the strongest Democratic areas in the state to its most devoted Trump territory, and the Guardian's reporting treats it as a test case for the party's long struggle to win back rural, working-class voters. In 1932, with roughly a quarter of the country unemployed, just over 72% of Shasta voters chose Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had spoken to a crowd of several thousand from a train in Redding that September.

The county's politics reversed over the following decades as its major industries collapsed. Trump has won about two-thirds of the vote there in each of his three campaigns, in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Officials elected there have spread false claims about stolen elections and repeatedly fought with Sacramento. Local anger over Covid restrictions drew national attention, and later disputes included a journalist being assaulted and a protester facing jail time over a sign.

The most recent clash involves Measure B, which voters passed in June. It calls for ending almost all mail voting and adding voter ID and hand tallies. A judge has blocked it while the legal fight continues.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →