Why my fellow California Republicans should consider a celebrity Democrat for governor no joke!

A popular meme making the rounds on social media shows an anguished citizen, outraged at California’s incompetent ruling Democrats Gov.Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Attorney General Rob Bonta and the rest of the state’s Democratic politburo, saying, “Next time I’ll vote for a different Democrat!”It’s a mordant recognition California is a hopeless one-party state.

For someone like me who grew up in California when it was considered “Reagan Country” and the bulwark of Republican strength in the Electoral College, this is a shocking and depressing state of affairs.The California Republican Party is so feeble that it’s becoming more frequent that the state’s top-two “jungle” primary system adopted 20 years ago, in which all candidates are listed and voted on together with the top two finishers going on the November ballot, produces general-election contests for statewide office between two Democrats.Kamala Harris was first elected to the US Senate in 2016 out of the jungle-primary process, beating another Democrat who finished second in the spring.Sen.Adam Schiff last year ran TV ads successfully boosting Republican Steve Garvey’s candidacy in the primary so he wouldn’t have to contest another Democrat in November — and won.In an open field for governor next year, it’s possible two strong Democrats could keep a Republican from making the general-election ballot.

One of them is likely to be Kamala Harris, who’s leading in the early polls.Part of the problem for anyone, especially a Republican, seeking statewide office in California is that the state’s sheer size and expensive media markets make it difficult to break through to the public and establish basic name identification.Succeeding statewide requires that a candidate be part of a well-organized and well-funded political machine — which is how Newsom and Harris ascended in the Bay Area — or have celebrity status, like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Ronald Reagan back...