Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Kasich to Launch ‘New Way’ for California GOP

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ohio Gov. John Kasich will join fired Republican Assembly leader Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) to launch “New Way California,” an attempt to re-make the California Republican Party, on March 21.

Mayes was dumped as GOP leader in August after he provided the crucial Republican swing vote that renewed Democrat Gov. JerryBrown’s cap-and-trade, which is expected to increase gas taxes by up to $.79 a gallon by 2030.

Mayes claimed he would launch a “New Way California” message to urge the struggling California Republican Party to unite all Californians in support of “individual freedom, shared responsibility, educational excellence, environmental stewardship, efficient government and an open economy.”

Named by a newspaper in his local district as the “Benedict Arnold to many California conservatives,” Mayes has had trouble attracting support for his “New Way.”

But according to Schwarzenegger spokesman Daniel Ketchell, the former governor and sitting Governor Kasich have committed to speak and lead panels at the March 21 summit in the hopes of boosting the effort at reform.

Ketchell told The Blaze, “They will be focused on reminding the Republican Party we need them to be successful, but in order to be successful, they need to choose policies and messaging that helps them grow rather than continue to shrink.”

Another obstacle is Schwarzenegger’s unpopularity with the party rank-and-file. When Schwarzenegger left office in 2011, California Republicans were thoroughly disgusted with his leadership, after he pushed through cap-and-trade and passed the first across-the-board sales and income tax increases in 17 years. He also supported illegal immigration amnesty and had a child out of wedlock with his maid.

Despite championing Democrat causes, Schwarzenegger’s voter approval was just 20 percent, and his disapproval was 75 percent. L.A. Weekly suggested the last “prototypical Schwarzenegger supporter as a young, white, single guy who lives in San Francisco, has no fixed political views and dreams of someday having a lovechild of his own.”

Schwarzenegger re-entered politics by supporting Kasich’s 2016 presidential primary bid. Kasich promised he would not be “getting people riled up about how bad everything is,” but instead be a “Prince of light and hope” that would not attack other candidates. But then Kasich unsuccessfully attacked Trump and finished sixth in the Republican primary.

Kasich has recently begun moving away from traditionally core Republican values. Six days after the Parkland, Florida, school shootingshooting, Kasich went on CNN to advocate for federal gun control measures. Later that day, he removed his website’s pro-Second Amendment section.

For a movement that claims it will capture political power in America’s biggest state, the New Way California website only has 732 followers and no new posts since Feb. 1.