By Wes Harlan, State Politics Reporter

There’s a reason so many working Californians are tuning out. It’s not apathy. It’s exhaustion.

They’ve seen the cycle play out too many times. Politicians show up with promises during election season — talk about affordability, justice, opportunity. But once the ballots are counted, it’s back to business as usual. For the people punching a clock, driving a rig, or bagging groceries, not much ever changes.

Republicans talk about small business and personal responsibility. But in California, they’re often invisible in the neighborhoods where people are struggling the most. Democrats, meanwhile, have had control of the state for decades — and yet the cost of living has spiraled, and the basic question of how to afford gas, rent, and groceries feels harder every year.

A welder in Stockton doesn’t care about partisan talking points. A waitress in Modesto isn’t impressed by soundbites about “climate equity” or “transformational change.” They care about the fact that wages are flat while prices rise. They notice that government seems to get bigger, more expensive, and less effective with every new bill passed in Sacramento.

There’s always money for consultants. Always money for studies. Always a new agency, a new program, a new press conference. But when it comes to things like keeping housing costs down, fixing the roads, or making energy affordable — somehow that’s always too complicated, or someone else’s fault.

Gas taxes go up, and nobody votes on it. Food prices go up, and nobody takes responsibility. Rent keeps climbing, and the best answer working people get is a link to a government program that’s already out of funding.

The disconnect is no longer just policy — it’s cultural. There’s a growing sense that the people making decisions don’t understand the people living with the consequences. The people at the Capitol don’t worry about pumping their own gas or budgeting for school clothes. They don’t live where the pain hits first. And it shows.

That’s why trust is collapsing. It’s not just that people are struggling — it’s that they don’t feel seen. They don’t feel respected. And they sure as hell don’t feel represented.

If either party wants to matter to the working class again, they need to stop treating them like a photo op and start treating them like the foundation of the state they actually are. That means delivering results. Listening between elections. And giving people a reason to believe again.

Because right now, it’s not about left or right. It’s about real versus fake. And a whole lot of Californians are tired of the show.