Would-be Kevin McCarthy successor is California Democrats' favorite Republican

SACRAMENTO, California — Shannon Grove is a Trump-supporting, anti-abortion Republican from the beating red heart of California’s Central Valley.

She’s also one of Democratic lawmakers’ most beloved colleagues in Sacramento.

The Bakersfield state senator has gained widespread notoriety in recent years for challenging the majority party’s reluctance to increase criminal penalties, often gathering support from even the most liberal Democrats to increase sentencing for human trafficking and set new protections for children.

On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1414, Grove’s bill that charges the solicitation of a minor as a felony, rather than a misdemeanor. It received near-unanimous support in the Senate, and was even championed by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

Grove’s crusades have been backed, in large part, by the conservatives like her who are outraged over the state’s approach to crime, but have also gained a boost from the unlikely alliances she’s forged with the opposing party over her nearly 15 years in the building.

“She’s a likable person and she does extend herself and show kindness,” said former Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, who previously led the Democrats in the upper chamber and is running for governor in 2026. The two share a close bond and have been known to dress up as one another for the Legislature’s annual “twin day” — down to the matching shoes .

“I’m just as surprised some days as others that we have become such friends.”

It’s not unheard of for Democrats and Republicans to find common ground, especially among moderates, but Grove’s politics don’t exactly fall in the middle. She’s a close ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and was the first female veteran elected to the California Legislature when she entered the state Assembly in 2010.

Since then she has been a fierce opponent of many key Democratic priorities, including efforts to reduce California’s domestic oil production. Her comments outside of the chambers have been known to raise eyebrows: In 2015, she suggested in a Facebook post that God might be responsible for California’s drought , and in 2021 blamed the Jan. 6 riots on antifa — a tweet that eventually lost her the top spot in the Senate’s Republican Caucus.

Yet Democrats and Republicans alike routinely praise Grove for her demeanor in the Capitol, describing her as a hardworking, personable lawmaker who will fight you on the dais and bring you birthday cake the next day, or invite you to her district for horseback riding.

“My colleagues and I may not always agree on everything, but I do have some pretty incredible friends on the other side of the aisle,” Grove told POLITICO. “And regardless of our differences and the debate that takes place, I really do believe that they know I really do care about them as individuals.”

Both Grove and Atkins were elected to the Assembly in 2010, but it wasn’t until they each moved into leadership positions in the Senate that they discovered all their similarities. Atkins’ twin sister, like Grove, served in the military; both lawmakers grew up poor in rural parts of the country; and they both share a deep love of Dolly Parton.

“Do we agree on policy? Not in a million years,” Grove said of Atkins. “But then we still have a friendship. That’s all friendships, right? You have arguments or disagreements with your friends. It shouldn’t be any different in the Legislature.”

The one time Grove really irritated Atkins, she said, was when the Republican organized a Zoom call with Parton without her.

“That is the one time I just looked at her like, ‘you’re kidding me, right?’” Atkins recalled.

Among Grove’s other high-profile bills this year is a measure that would require youth centers to disclose more information about potential abuse, going after what’s commonly known as the “troubled teen industry.” Hotel heiress and Hollywood socialite Paris Hilton traveled to the Capitol to support Grove’s cause in April. But perhaps more unusual were the two Democratic co-authors standing alongside her.

“We’re all here today asking ourselves: what is an heiress, a Republican, a single mom and a former foster youth have in common?” Hayward Democratic state Sen. Aisha Wahab told reporters at a press conference. “The honest truth is we want to protect children.”

Grove’s intentions have not always been well-received, especially in the Assembly. Last year her human trafficking bill, SB 14, was rejected by the progressive Democrats on the Public Safety Committee, resulting in a maelstrom of backlash online, including some from tech billionaire Elon Musk. Eventually, Gov. Newsom stepped in and compelled the Assembly to reconsider Grove’s bill , which then led to its passage and his signature.

Then-Public Safety Chair, Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, at the time lamented the vicious rhetoric from supporters of the bill, which included a cadre of far-right internet trolls who accused opponents of being pedophiles.

“There are members on this committee, women, whose lives were threatened because of this,” he told reporters last summer. “We can have an honest debate, but, my God.”

Grove passed up an opportunity last year to run for Congress, declining to run for McCarthy’s empty seat in a race where she would have easily been the frontrunner. She said she plans to continue fighting for kids next year, and terms out of office in 2026.

Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones praised Grove’s tenacity — and her adherence to her beliefs.

“One of the things I think defines Sen. Grove is that she’s very vocal about the policies that are important to her,” he said. “Everybody knows where she stands on things and yet she’s flexible enough to build these relationships with members on the other side of the aisle.”

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