San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer offered a vision for new California Republicans looking to advance in the one of the "bluest" states in the country during a speech Tuesday at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club.
Faulconer, who has been mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for governor and the only Republican leading a major California city, reiterated that he was not throwing his hat in the ring to follow current Gov. Jerry Brown, the McClatchy DC Bureau reported.
"California prides itself on being a place where innovation is born," Faulconer said in prepared remarks, according to McClatchy. "It's time for California Republicans to tap into that bold attitude and modernize itself as a state party in step with the residents we want to represent."
Faulconer said that the California Republican Party "shouldn't be a carbon copy of the national GOP."
The mayor received attention for his resistance to the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, a hallmark of President Donald Trump's presidential campaign, McClatchy noted. He also spoke out strongly against the weekend's violent attacks in Charlottesville, Virginia, on social media.
Faulconer supported the North American Free Trade Agreement, another target of Trump, saying that San Diego's exports have grown by $5 billion since NAFTA was enacted with Mexico serving as its biggest export partner, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
The mayor found common ground with the president in his rejection of sanctuary cities, the Beacon noted.
"It's very important for municipalities, obviously, to do the right thing," Faulconer stated, per the Free Beacon. "We are not a sanctuary city in San Diego. We haven’t been. Never will be."
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