Many local Republicans aren’t loud, and urge moderation

Editor’s Note: In April we ran a story about Democrat activism titled, “From pages to protests – how a local book club turned to political activism.” Conversely, we promised to present an opposing point of view – the Conservative side.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (June 27, 2025) — Jack Weir said he feels like an island, and in a way, he is.

As a conservative, the former Pleasant Hill City Councilmember calls himself a red dot in an ocean of blue. He is a Libertarian and associated with the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association.

Yet he recognizes that central Contra Costa County is a land of Democrats.

In an area that was swept by Democrats in the 2024 legislative and Congressional races, numbers don’t lie. Overall, Contra Costa County has a Democratic registration advantage, with 48.5% registered Democrats compared to 19.4% Republicans and 27.7% identifying with No Party Preference.

Roughly the same percentages trickles down to the city level, too, and other registered voters are Independent or in smaller parties.

Still, the Republican party is strong, especially in areas like Rossmoor, with the Rossmoor Republican Club and Lamorinda, with organizations like the Rossmoor Republican Women’s Club. And party leaders say that it is an uphill battle to be loud and proud in the area. They don’t have to. They own Washington, D.C. right now.

“We are here,” said Concord’s Sonia Ledo, who ran unsuccessfully against Anamarie Avila Farias for California’s 15th Assembly District seat last year. “We may be outnumbered almost two-to-one, but we’re here.”

She points to the strong Republican clubs in Rossmoor, Lamorinda, Clayton and Concord.

“We’re not as loud on social media as liberal groups,” she said of the more eastern cities. “It’s hard being in a deep blue county.”

The Pioneer attempted to reach the county republican party leadership for comment, but have not received a response by press time.

Ledo herself, was a Trump supporter, and approves of his agenda and “Big Beautiful Bill.”

“It will help things like medical spending waste,” she said. “We don’t want California’s money spent on certain groups of people who aren’t paying taxes.”

Ledo is more focused on how the Republican agenda in Washington affects California, specifically the Congressional action that overturned the state’s ban on gas vehicles.

“That was a smart move by Congress,” she said.

However, both Ledo and Weir agree that probably members of both major political parties would like to do one thing: move closer to center and agree more. And if there are disagreements, debate them in a respectful manner.

“It’s not like it used to be,” Weir said, who counts among his friends former Republican Congressman Bill Baker, adding now there is too much negativity, even within the major parties.

“There are moderates and independent thinkers within both parties,” Ledo said of the Republicans and Democrats, saying she hates the “lockstep” voting that happens in both the State Legislature and U.S. Congress.

“I am concerned with Democrats running both California’s assembly and the state senate,” she said. “They don’t work for the people; they only do what their leaders tell them.”

She points to AB59, recently passed in California, that took away felony status from underage sex traffickers. The bill passed mainly along party lines, and even Gov. Newsom spoke out against it, Ledo said.

She even thinks that the county’s blue status has made it soft on crime.

“I’m afraid to go out at night in Concord anymore,” she said. “I grew up in San Francisco and that’s why I left it, for this nice suburb.”

She is also in opposition to the City of Concord’s rent control ordinance. “I ended up selling my rental,” she said. “It just wasn’t worth it.”

There are some small victories for the red minority in the area, especially the Contra Costa Taxpayer’s Association, which is made up of a majority of Republicans. It strongly opposed Acalanes School District’s Measure T campaign, a parcel tax for the Lamorinda-area schools.

Despite the proponents of the affluent area spending thousands of dollars to pass the tax, it failed to meet the two-thirds majority to win.

“The election was a mail-in special election that cost the county $1 million,” said Marc Joffe, county chair of the association. “It was a $130 annual tax. To me, that’s not fiscally smart at all.”

Joffe, like Weir, is a Libertarian and voted for Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver over Trump. He said he has “mixed feelings” about the president’s agenda.

“We don’t like the tariffs,” he said. “Libertarians support free trade, and we don’t like the immigration policies, because the country needs immigrants for certain jobs.

What he does approve of is tax cuts and DOGE. He scoffs at the liberal’s protests of Tesla in downtown Walnut Creek.

“I’ve never seen so many intelligent people take a knee-jerk reaction to an issue,” he said of Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts. “We need fiscal responsibility.”