California is rapidly being transformed from the Golden State to the Awful Warning State—coming to an America near you if the GOP House Leadership succeeds in smuggling though its version of the Amnesty/ Immigration Surge. But at least one Republican hasn’t given up. Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a one-time Minuteman, is running to be the Republican nominee for Governor. Incredibly, he would be the first GOP candidate for state-wide office directly to oppose any part of America’s immigration disaster since Governor Pete Wilson seized on Proposition 187 to win a come-from-behind re-election victory in 1994.

Donnelly has a tough job. Partially because of mass immigration, California is facing a systemic crisis. The state has chronic high unemployment (8.3% in December), gargantuan public pension obligations ($640 billion?—the figures vary tremendously) and diversity-challenged schools (2012-13: 52.7% Latino in K-12; 1.3 million English learners out of 6.2 million total; and 516,119 enrolled in private school).

But the worst problem the refusal of the state political Establishment to acknowledge there are problems. Indeed, Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown’s January 22 state-of-the-state address was full of California-Uber-Alles self-congratulation, especially when it comes to coddling foreign invaders. He said:

"In so many other ways, California is a pioneer. We have 25 percent of the nation's foreign born and we are the first state in modern times to have a plurality of families of Latino origin. So it's not surprising that California is the state where immigrants can not only dream—they can drive—legally.”

Propelled by demographic change, open-borders Democrats have established a one-party regime. Some typical policies from Sacramexico include:

The California GOP bears much of the blame for this. It has failed to insist that immigration be a legal process. In fact, irrationally, it has run away from the immigration issue entirely after Governor Pete Wilson’s victory in 1994. This is worse than a crime, it’s a blunder, as numerous polls indicate that Californians still reject open-borders policies, particularly special treatment for illegals in education and driving privileges.

But Tim Donnelly has proven the exception among Republicans after joining the Assembly in 2010. He led an initiative campaign to repeal the California DREAM Act, although the number of signatures gathered fell short. He introduced an Arizona-style immigration enforcement bill, an important symbolic step even though the Democrat-controlled legislature would never to consider it.

He spoke against Sacramento’s racial socialist policies of redistributing funds from citizens to foreigners. A typical example was Sacramento providing $40 million for DREAMer student aid even as $1 billion was cut for the State university system.

Donnelly also forced UCLA to discontinue its special reduced-cost “Dream University” for illegal alien students, designed to train “diverse” community organizers, in 2012. This victory showed Donnelly’s effectiveness in using the media for his own ends, a valuable skill when dealing with an occupying government and regime-friendly press desperately trying to impose mass immigration.

Even Donnelly’s gubernatorial run itself is a blow against the Third World transformation of California. And he has grassroots support among the state’s Tea Party groups. He has a big campaign bus and visits local groups around the state. He has a website for his campaign, a YouTube channel, plus active Facebook and twitter accounts.

But he faces opposition. In a development that is almost too good for parody, the great hope of the MSM and “moderate Republicans” is….an investment banker from Goldman Sachs! Neel Kashkari [pictured right] also served as assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury for both the Bush and Obama Administrations, where he was responsible for…administering the TATP bail-out! He is also the son of Indian immigrants. [Contrasting Conservative Views Vie For California GOP Governor Primary, CBS, January 24, 2014]

Kashkari is receiving adoring MSM coverage because he is pro-gay marriage, pro-choice, and pro-marijuana legalization, prompting claims that socially liberal “conservatarians” are the future of the party – at least according to the MSM. [California GOP’s hope: ‘Conservatarian’ movement, by Carla Marinucci, SFGate, January 15, 2014]

Kashkari is also explicitly pro-amnesty. His concern about high unemployment suddenly vanishes because he is told “we need workers to work the farms.” Kashkari gloats that the tens of millions of illegals will “never be deported,” so therefore “they need some form of legal status.” [Interview: Neel Kashkari, by Jon Fleischman, Kashkari for Governor, January 22, 2014]

Kashkari has money, media favor, and ethnic nepotism on his side. The only thing he doesn’t have is supporters. In the only poll released thus far which includes both Donnelly and Kashkari, Donnelly has three times the support of Kashkari. [The Field Poll, by Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field, Field Research Corporation, December 5, 2013]

With former Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado dropping out, Donnelly was the early favorite to take second in California’s open primary. [Former Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado drops out of race for governor, by Josh Richman, San Jose Mercury News, January 16, 2014]. Kashkari is the California GOP Establishment's rule-or-ruin answer.

Of course, Donnelly’s campaign is quixotic. Jerry Brown is regarded as a shoo-in for ultra-blue California, where registered Democrats constitute 43.9 percent of voters versus 28.9 Republicans.

And recent headlines generated by Donnelly shows the absurd climate of PC repression he is facing. He ran a bilingual campaign ad with actress Maria Conchita Alonso in support. Donnelly says something about his policy positions and Alonso colorfully interprets into Spanish, with English subtitles:

DONNELLY: "Politicians and big government are killing our prosperity. They're driving businesses out of our state, pushing welfare costs through the roof and driving our schools into the ground." ALONSO: "We're screwed."

Watch.

Alonso, a two-time immigrant first from Cuba and then Venezuela, is a vocal anti-communist, having experienced it first-hand. Her views naturally put her at odds with Hollywood. In 2011 she had a shouting match in LAX with actor Sean Penn, a famous friend of the late Venezuela strongman Hugo Chavez, over the merits of communism.

For Alonso’s lighthearted endorsement of Tim Donnelly, the vicious enforcers of Raza groupthink forced her out of a San Francisco production of The Vagina Monologues. The play’s producer Eliana Lopez chillingly remarked, "We really can't have her in the show, unfortunately. Of course, she has the right to say whatever she wants, but we're in the middle of the Mission [a heavily-Hispanic section of the city]."

And threats included burning down the theater. Better not rile those Hispanics! [Maria Conchita Alonso Quits Play After Tea Party Sympathies Revealed, San Francisco Chronicle, January 21, 2014]

The actress was even criticized for naming her Chihuahua “Tequila.” Of course, when Nevada Hispanics sought to replicate the Tea Party’s grassroots success, they called their group the Tequila Party So you can use the beverage as an ethnic identifier if your politics are PC.

The message is clear: por la Raza todo. And if you dissent, you are blacklisted. Thus, Donnelly (who is married to a Filipina) and the immigrant Alonso are accused of racism.

Critics are charging that Donnelly’s “viral” ad isn’t serious enough. Perhaps—but what’s at stake couldn’t be more dire. Only Donnelly is challenging the transformation of California into a province of Mexico and the cultural fracturing along the lines of race, language and national loyalty.

More than that, he might be the GOP’s best hope for staying relevant in the Golden State—and keeping it part of the American nation in something more than name.

Brenda Walker lives in northern California and publishes the blog LimitsToGrowth.org. She loves dogs but suspects that chihuahuas are cleverly disguised rats.