California voters have not elected a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection in 2006.

Posted by On with Kara Swisher, Aug 10, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 4 support1 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 90%

On with Kara SwisherAug 10, 2026

The claim is accurate as of the posting date. The AP election table shows Republican Schwarzenegger winning the 2006 governor's race and Democrats Jerry Brown (2010, 2014) and Gavin Newsom (2018, 2022) winning every race after that, and Reuters and CNN say Schwarzenegger was the last Republican governor.

What we found

Supports. AP's California governor results table lists Schwarzenegger (Republican) as the 2006 winner and Brown (2010, 2014) and Newsom (2018, 2022), all Democrats, as the winners since then.[1]

Supports. Reuters states Schwarzenegger was the last Republican to hold the California governor's office, serving 2003 to 2011, and CNN dates his landslide reelection to November 7, 2006.[2][3]

Supports. LA Times reporting says California voters have not elected a Republican as governor since Schwarzenegger won reelection in 2006.[4]

Context. The 2026 governor's race (Hilton vs. Becerra) was still pending in the NBC source published 2026-11-02, so the claim covers only elections completed before that race.[5]