DeSantis Concerned About California Exodus; Calls San Francisco 'Dumpster Fire'

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., said people and companies leaving California could pose a problem for The Sunshine State.

The Los Angeles Times recently reported that Los Angeles and San Francisco both experienced steep population declines during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

California lost almost 262,000 residents from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021, according to data released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau.

"There is cause for concern," DeSantis said during an event Monday, The Recount reported.

"Texas would have all these companies moved from California over the years. So you'd have companies move from San Francisco to Austin, and they'd bring hundreds of employees with them. And those employees would vote the exact same way they voted that turned San Francisco into the dumpster fire that it is."

DeSantis expressed concern that Californians relocating to Florida would bring progressive politics with them.

"It's like the leftism, they will not draw the connection between their leftist ideology and the destruction that's all around them," DeSantis said. "It is a problem because I do think there's a class of voters who would come to Florida, and they would continue to vote the same way."

Tesla moved its corporate headquarters from Silicon Valley to a large factory under construction outside of Austin, Texas, in a high-profile move late last year.

At the time, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in October that he expected some of Tesla's 10,000 employees wouldn't want to leave the Bay Area but a large number would due to Austin's lower cost of living.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday struck a deal to acquire social media giant Twitter, another company currently with headquarters in California.

Unlike California, Florida's net migration and immigration gain of 259,480 was the most in the country between July 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021, Florida Politics reported.

Red states increased in population growth as blue states saw a decline, despite California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom's spokesman claiming "the California exodus is a myth."

Between 2020 and 2021, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data, Washington D.C. and Democrat-led state populations showed a marked decline.

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