Newsom’s Electric Vehicle Mandate Crashes: Californians Reject Governor’s Climate Crusade by Historic Margins

Nearly two-thirds of Californians now oppose Governor Gavin Newsom’s radical plan to ban gas-powered vehicle sales by 2035, marking a stunning collapse in support for what the governor once touted as his signature environmental achievement.

The political reversal is nothing short of catastrophic for Newsom’s climate agenda.

A new statewide poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California reveals that 65% of likely voters reject the gas car ban, with only 34% still backing the controversial mandate.

This represents a 17-percentage-point surge in opposition since 2021, when Californians were evenly divided on the proposal.

Democrats Abandon Ship

The most striking finding? Even Newsom’s own party is turning against him.

Democratic support has plummeted from 55% just last year to a razor-thin 50% today—essentially a dead heat within his base. Meanwhile, 49% of Democrats now oppose the policy outright.

Republicans remain united in their rejection, with an overwhelming 91% standing against the mandate.

Opposition runs even deeper among infrequent voters, signaling that this isn’t just a political problem—it’s a voter revolt waiting to happen at the ballot box.

Reality Bites: The Affordability Crisis Democrats Won’t Address

The collapse in support isn’t mysterious. It’s economics.

Californians are drowning in soaring living costs and energy prices that have made the state increasingly unaffordable for working families. The idea of forcing them into expensive electric vehicles while they struggle to pay rent and fill their gas tanks is political tone-deafness at its finest.

Electric vehicles carry significantly higher price tags than traditional cars. For families already stretched thin by California’s oppressive cost of living, that premium isn’t just inconvenient—it’s prohibitive.

And then there’s the charging infrastructure problem Democrats refuse to acknowledge honestly.

Recharging an EV takes around 40 minutes—if you can find an available charging station. For Americans accustomed to five-minute fill-ups at any of thousands of gas stations, this represents a fundamental quality-of-life downgrade.

The Gap Between Green Dreams and Ground Truth

“Electricity is not cheap. It often depends on the time of day,” noted PPIC Polling Director Mark Baldassare, stating what every California ratepayer already knows.

“People have their long-standing concerns about the environment. But they also have immediate concerns about affordability,” Baldassare explained. “When it comes to what people are willing to do, they’re worried about living costs and particularly the cost of energy.”

That’s consultant-speak for a simple truth: Californians can’t afford Newsom’s climate fantasies.

The poll data confirms widespread skepticism about California’s readiness for this transition. Respondents were twice as likely to express doubt that the state will build sufficient charging infrastructure as they were to express confidence.

That’s a damning assessment of Sacramento’s competence.

Doubling Down on Failure

Rather than reading the room, Newsom and state lawmakers recently approved $135 million in new incentives to prop up flagging EV sales.

The program offers first-time buyers a $3,500 rebate on qualifying new EVs priced at $50,000 or less, while eligible used electric vehicles qualify for a $1,750 rebate.

Here’s the catch: Automakers are expected to cover half the program’s cost. Anyone who believes those expenses won’t be passed along to consumers through higher vehicle prices hasn’t been paying attention to how businesses operate in the real world.

These state subsidies come after the $7,500 federal tax credit for new electric vehicles expired last year when President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress wisely allowed it to lapse.

The message from Washington was clear: American taxpayers shouldn’t subsidize luxury vehicles for wealthy coastal elites.

Sacramento apparently didn’t get the memo.

Numbers Don’t Lie—But Politicians Do

California does lead the nation in EV ownership, with roughly 1.3 million registered electric vehicles. State boosters love citing this statistic as proof the transition is working.

What they won’t tell you: California’s population exceeds 39 million people. That means EVs represent a tiny fraction of vehicles on the road—and most voters remain unconvinced they’re ready to make the switch.

The California Energy Commission reported in January that the state has more than 200,000 public and shared private charging stations and about 800,000 home chargers, with additional highway infrastructure planned.

Planned. There’s that word again.

California’s infrastructure promises have a funny way of running years behind schedule and billions over budget. Ask anyone who’s driven on the state’s crumbling roads or waited for the high-speed rail boondoggle that’s consumed $11 billion without moving a single passenger.

The Contradiction at the Heart of California’s Climate Politics

Here’s the fascinating paradox: The same poll shows Californians still back many of the state’s broader climate goals.

Wildfires and global warming remain leading environmental concerns. Nearly two-thirds support California’s target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. Strong majorities favor taxing corporations based on carbon emissions and requiring renewable electricity by 2045.

So what explains the disconnect?

Simple: Californians are happy to support climate action—as long as someone else pays for it and someone else bears the inconvenience.

They’ll gladly vote to tax corporations and mandate renewable energy from utilities. But when climate policy hits their own wallets and daily routines? Opposition skyrockets.

This is the fundamental dishonesty at the heart of progressive climate policy. It sells itself as shared sacrifice for the greater good, but it invariably lands hardest on working families who can’t afford to virtue signal with a $60,000 Tesla.

The Newsom Presidential Problem

This polling disaster comes at a particularly awkward moment for Newsom, who has spent years positioning himself as a national leader on climate issues and a potential future presidential contender.

His gas car ban was supposed to be the crown jewel of that résumé—proof that bold progressive action could tackle climate change while maintaining California’s innovative edge.

Instead, it’s become a political anchor dragging down his approval ratings in his home state.

If Newsom can’t sell this policy to Californians—the most environmentally conscious electorate in America—how does he expect to sell it nationally?

The Path Forward Requires Honesty

The lesson here isn’t that Americans oppose environmental protection. It’s that they oppose heavy-handed mandates that ignore economic reality and personal freedom.

A better approach would let the market decide. Remove the subsidies—both for fossil fuels and electric vehicles. Let consumers choose based on real costs and benefits. Invest in infrastructure that actually serves drivers’ needs rather than Sacramento’s ideological preferences.

And most importantly: Stop lying to people about the costs and trade-offs involved.

Electric vehicles may well represent the future of transportation. But that future will arrive through innovation and consumer choice, not government mandates that two-thirds of Californians reject.

Newsom signed his executive order in 2020, confident he was on the right side of history. Five years later, he’s learning that history is written by voters—and they’re not happy with his authorship.

The governor faces a choice: acknowledge reality and adjust his approach, or stubbornly push forward with a policy his own constituents have decisively rejected.

Given Sacramento’s track record, don’t expect humility anytime soon.