Honoring Our Legacy: A Call to Revitalize the Republican Party as We Approach 2026

As 2025 ends and 2026 begins, it is fitting to remind ourselves of CRA’s early history and ongoing mission as we prepare for the critical 2026 Gubernatorial Election.

On February 11, 1934, a small group of young Republicans assembled in San Jose to pick up the pieces and rebuild a party devastated by the Democrat’s landslide victory in 1932. They had enough of Republican politics-as-usual and were determined to restructure and revitalize the Republican Party in California. In his The Story of the California Republican Assembly, Markell Baer (CRA President, 1951-52) wrote that these men:

dedicated themselves to promote the restoration of public confidence in the Republican Party, freed from the domination of reactionary leaders. . . and to developing a strong public opinion to offset the dangers of the New Deal administration. . . They saw the threat to the American tradition of freedom, private initiative, and local government, and sought to arouse the people to a re-adherence to the principles of our government, as handed down from our forefathers.

The following month, at a convention in Fresno, the California Republican Assembly was formally organized on March 12, 1934. By June of 1935, 47 of the state’s 58 counties had CRA organizations and CRA membership exceeded 8,000. CRA was set on a path to make political history in California and to become “The Conscience of the Republican Party” as stated by President Ronald Reagan.

In 2025, the mission of the Republican Assembly movement is essentially unchanged from 1934: to rebuild and revitalize the Republican Party; to warn the people about the dangers of Marxism, Progressivism, and Socialism; and to awaken in the public a recommitment to America’s founding principles. To carry out this crucial mission, we must be courageous, determined, principled, and well-prepared while being civil and honorable.

2026 will be a pivotal year for the future of CRA, our party, and our state.

For God, family, and country,

Carl Brickey

President, California Republican Assembly

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” ~ 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)