California officials were literally jumping up and down this week celebrating a sales-tax hike that pushes families to a staggering 9.75%—one of the highest rates in the nation. They cheered while working people braced for higher bills. It’s the kind of political lunacy that drove millions to flee the West Coast in the first place.
And that raises a question we can’t ignore in our neck of the woods:
Are we importing this mindset right along with the newcomers?
When People Move, Their Politics Often Follow
A big chunk of Florida’s growth is coming from states like California, New York, and Illinois. People escape the high taxes, the heavy regulations, the bloated bureaucracy… but often bring the same voting patterns that created the mess they ran from.
And for us, some of those people stopped here and set up their new lives and we have to ask:
- How do we protect our hometown from that mindset?
- How do we vet candidates to ensure they aren’t here to plant progressive policies in our backyard?
- How do we wake up our neighbors—especially the ones who “aren’t political”—before it’s too late?
- Are we allowing the small town, friendly and laid-back culture to be slowly replaced by big-government thinking?
- Are we voting based on yard signs and smiles… or on track records and values?
Culture Is on the Ballot—Every Time
Our culture of small-town values, fiscal common sense, neighbor-to-neighbor accountability, and a healthy suspicion of government overreach has been the core of our culture.
That culture doesn’t survive by accident. It survives because citizens defend it.
And right now, we should be asking:
- Are we importing this mindset.
- Do our city and county leaders reflect that culture—or the politics of the places newcomers left behind?
- Are we watching who funds local campaigns?
- Are we paying attention to their language—“fees,” “extraordinary circumstances,” “equity initiatives”—the same words that gutted other communities?
Local voters need to stay wide awake. California didn’t collapse overnight. It happened one tax, one regulation, one “expert recommendation,” one apathetic election at a time.
The Last—and Most Important—Question
Are we willing to stand together and say:
Not here. Not us. Not in my hometown.
Because if we’re not asking these questions now… we’ll be paying California-style taxes later and that, my friend, will be the devastation of this quaint, beautiful place we call home.
