Editor’s note: Breaking views are thoughts from individual members of the editorial board on today’s headlines.

California has become, for all intents and purposes, a one-party state. The consequence is that political discourse in state government is generally limited to bickering between progressive and slightly less progressive Democrats over how much to overspend or over regulate, with Republicans somewhere in the distance calling out the excesses of the Democrats in between bouts of calling other Republicans RINOs.

For Californians who like their taxes high and their government bigger, this state of affairs might be totally acceptable. But for everyone else who just wants state government to take care of the basics without constantly scheming for more money grabs to dole out to special interest groups, it’s a rather bleak situation.

While there’s only so much a governor can do, it is slightly discomforting to know that most likely voters in the state have no idea who any of the Republican candidates for governor are. According to recent surveys by the Public Policy Institute of California, more than 60 percent of likely voters have never heard of Travis Allen or John Cox.

Of the 38 percent who have heard of Allen, 17 percent don’t know enough to have an opinion of him. Just 13 percent of respondents overall thought favorably of him, versus 8 percent who had an unfavorable view of him.

Of the 40 percent who have heard of Cox, 18 percent don’t know enough to have an opinion of him, while those with opinions are split 11 percent favorably and unfavorably.

Doug Ose, another Republican, announced his entrance to the race last month. Voters weren’t asked if they knew who he was, but I doubt many can say they do.

For better or worse, most likely voters did know who most of the Democratic candidates were, in particular Gavin Newsom, Antonio Villaraigosa and John Chiang. Most didn’t know who Delaine Eastin was, though more knew who she was than of any of the Republicans.

And these are the likely voters. The people who have just enough motivation to possibly vote.

It isn’t necessary, of course, for Californians to even like or agree with the Republican candidates. But it’s a reflection of just how far behind the Republicans are to having any meaningful impact on the direction of the largest state of the country that only a few can even say they at least recognize Travis Allen or John Cox’s names.

It’s also a reflection of just how little attention is paid to state government generally. It’s no wonder the state faces so many problems – from pensions to high poverty rates to abysmal K-12 outcomes to a housing crisis – that never seem to get better no matter how much more money we hand over to the state.

To top it all off: 57 percent of likely voters approve of the job Jerry Brown is doing and 50 percent think the Legislature, perhaps best known for grandstanding against Trump as it runs the state into the ground, is doing a good job too.

Sal Rodriguez is an editorial writer and columnist for the Southern California News Group. He may be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com