A long-term Trump effect could be a fatal blow to the state's atrophied Republican Party. Half of the GOP seats in California's congressional delegation were lost in November. Its standard bearer, gubernatorial candidate John Cox, received only 38% of the vote against Gov. Gavin Newsom. Republican caucuses in the state Senate and Assembly are now at their lowest levels since the 19th century. And this was only the midterm election.

What happens when the president is on the ballot next year?

"It's time to look at another path," former Assembly GOP leader Kristin Olsen said to those who believe in traditional Republican principles. She told the Berkeley audience that it's unclear "if the [state] party can outlast Donald Trump's presidency."