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California has seen 160K new registered Republicans: GOP Chairwoman

By and
Updated  July 16, 2024 11:11pm PDT
2024 Election
FOX 11

Trump's former opponents pledge support

At day two of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Donald Trump's former opponents for the 2024 Presidential bid, like Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ted Cruz, showed their support for him.

MILWAUKEE - Tuesday marks Day 2 of the Republican National Convention as the GOP continues to rally around former President Donald J. Trump after he was shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend. 

On Monday, the former president came back with a bandage over his ear to a raucous applause from the crowd.

Ahead of Tuesday’s events, FOX 11’s Elex Michaelson caught up with Jessica Patterson, the Chairwoman of the California Republican Party, who said it was "a bit overwhelming" seeing Trump on stage at the RNC. 

Armed man arrested near RNC, homeless man shot

Milwaukee Police arrested an armed man near the perimeter of the Republican National Convention in the same day that police shot and killed a homeless man, also near the site of the convention.

"One, I think it was important for the [former] president to do; to show everyone that he was okay and that America was okay, because this is a very scary time, regardless of what your political affiliation is, and to have him out there with everybody, certainly their security, we feel incredibly safe here. But to have him out there, showing us not to back down and to come together as Americans, I think it was a really great message that he sent."

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While California is often considered a Blue State, it has the biggest delegation. Patterson explained that they presented all 169 delegates to Trump on Day 1 of the convention. 

(Getty Images)

"Many people forget we are a big seat and we also have more Republicans in California than any other state at almost 5.4 million," Patterson explained. 

When asked about what a challenge they are up against, Patterson said they’ve been here before.

"We know what our job here is in California. We have delivered the House majority. We delivered it in 2022 after picking up five congressional seats in two cycles. And that's what we're focused on. We picked up four of those seats in 2020 when President Trump was at the top of the ballot."

In addition, she said she’s starting to see a change since October 2023. 

"We've seen 160,000 new registered Republicans. In that same time, Democrats have lost 106,000. Declined to states or no party preference went down [to] 115,000. We're bringing our message to communities all over the state. And I think yesterday's conversation at the Republican National Committee about making America wealthy again is really important to Californians that are struggling to get by."

Kelli Johnson contributed to this report from Los Angeles.