In one of California's Trumpiest counties, the MAGA backlash has begun

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https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/shasta-county-maga-politics-california-22296455.php

In one of California’s Trumpiest counties, the MAGA backlash has begun
After the June primary, Shasta County is again holding up a mirror to a fractious United States
By Raheem Hosseini, Staff Writer
June 21, 2026

In a part of upstate California roiled by MAGA politics and dark suspicions about democratic institutions, it was what passed for an ordinary moment.

Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis, completing a turbulent year in office and unhappy with the results of the recent primary he lost, wanted more money so his fractured department could begin printing ballots in-house.

“Right now we have no idea where the ballots go, who mails them out or where they’re going,” Curtis said June 9, making three misstatements. (The ballots are currently printed by the county’s chosen vendor, Runbeck Solutions; mailed by the U.S. Postal Service to voters registered with Curtis’ office; then mailed back to his office or deposited in secure boxes.)

Shasta County Supervisor Kevin W. Crye, the far-right politician who helped author the rural county’s political makeover, told his handpicked registrar to “keep up the good work.”

The exchange occurred one week after voters in the ruggedly contrarian county decided they’d had enough of both men’s work.

Earlier this month, voters decisively ousted Crye and Curtis, and sent Supervisor Chris Kellstrom to the general election trailing a moderate challenger. Even if Kellstrom wins in November, the results of the June 2 primary tilt the county’s most powerful body back to the center-right — ending a five-year MAGA experiment and signaling trouble for President Donald Trump in one of California’s Trumpiest strongholds.

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