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California was the state of Ronald Reagan & Richard Nixon. This year, the GOP may be left w just 8 seats of 53. It’s stunning even for those who have watched. Ds weren’t geniuses; Rs did it to themselves. https://t.co/Vbg3nyp9D3

— David Lauter (@DavidLauter) November 11, 2018

During the election, Rohrabacher, a speechwriter for President Reagan, doubled down on his advocacy for Trump and his hard-line immigration policies — neither of which are popular in the college-educated suburbs he represented. And his vocal support for President Vladimir Putin became a heavy liability after Russia’s suspected meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign.
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“The district became much more of an anti-Trump suburb, and he no longer connected to the people there,” Quinn said. “He had an opponent who was a former Republican businessman, not some wild-eyed lefty. And for at least two years, people were willing to try something new.”
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“This is more than just a bad year,” said Mike Madrid, a GOP political strategist. “This is essentially a realignment in California politics, and the traditional base that has served the Republican Party no longer exists.”

Madrid said “a clean sweep” of GOP incumbents was possible. He said he expects the party to see worse results in 2020 because it didn’t have “leadership with the strength and the foresight to get us out of this.”